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UPLIFT VOCATIONAL SERIES 



THINGS GIRLS 
LIKE TO DO 



Part I 

HOUSEKEEPING 

By Elizabeth Hale Gil]\la.n 



UPLIFT VOCATIONAL SERIES 

THINGS BOYS LIKE TO MAKE 

Paht I — Cabpentht and Woodwork 

by Prof. Edtoin W. Foster 

Part II — ^Electricity and its Everyday Uses 

hy Prof. John F. Woodhull, Ph.D. 

THINGS GIRLS LIKE TO DO 

Part I — Housekeeping 

hy Elizabeth Hale Oilman 
Part II — ^Needlecrapt 

by Effie Archer Archer 




Pholoj;raphed by Mary G. lluntsiii 

The Last Step is ]\Iaking the Buttonholes 



^t^^:^ 

(3.V 



ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, INCLTTDtNG THAT OF TRANSLATION 
INTO FOREIGN LANGUAGES, INCLUDING TEE SCANDINAVIAN 



COPYRIGHT, 1917, BY UPLIfT PUBLISHING COirPANY 



OCT 22 1917 



'©CU 4 77 140 



CONTENTS 








PAGE 


I. The Business Side ..... 1 


n. Care of Fittings and Furniture 






11 


III. Upstairs Work 






40 


IV. Dining-room and Pantry Work 






54 


V. The Kitchen 






82 


VI. The Cellar, Fires, Plumbing, etc. 






102 


VII. Menus and Marketing . 






138 


VIII. Cooking .... 






168 


IX. Washing and Ironing . 






206 


X. House Cleaning .... 






231 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



The Account Book . 
The Afternoon Rest 
The Broom Closet . 
The Periodical Cleaning 
Straight and Smooth 
Air, Sun, and Water 
Order and Daintiness 
Cooking 



FACING PAGE 

6 



•^ 

^ 



11 

34 ^ 
36 "^ 

44 »/ 
50^ 
58 '^ 



168 



/ 



THE BUSINESS SIDE 

IF WE want something, we plan to get it. 
We say, "I will do this, not that; I will use 
my time, as I have little strength; I will 
give my strength, as I have little money; or, I will 
give my money as I have little time to give." A 
plan is merely a series of choices, a record of things 
taken and things left for the sake of obtaining some 
end or of following some ideal. 

If we wish the people for whom we keep house to 
be well and happy and good, we shall plan to make 
them so, as earnestly and definitely as if we were 
making a train schedule, or drawing the plans of a 
house, or writing the outline of a book. 

The object of a housekeeping plan may be an 
ideal, but the plan is based on a definite, practical 
fact — the amount of income. The plan itself is 
the record of the choices made in the outlay of that 
amount of income. 

When a family have made a plan of yearly ex- 
penditure, they must have some way of testing at 



2 HOUSEKEEPING 

short intervals whether they are keeping to it or not, 
and some record by which at the end of the year 
they can tell whether their plan is a good one. These 
tests and records are furnished by accounts. 

Accounts kept in figures have several obvious ad- 
vantages. The symbol of five thousand dollars — 
$5,000 — ^takes less room than that amount in money, 
and is no temptation to a thief. Another advantage 
is, that these symbols of money do not have to be 
paid out, but remain in a book, and furnish a record 
of just what has been bought and what money re- 
mains. They also make it clear to the owner of the 
money whether she has had what she most needed 
or not. That is one of the reasons accounts are so 
disagreeable; they often say, "You made a fool of 
yourself that time." 

There are two sides in accounts, which are usually 
represented by opposite pages in a book. The right- 
hand page is the Credit side; the left-hand page is 
the Debit side. On the right-hand, or Credit, page 
are written the sums of money we have or acquire. 
Credit is related to the word creed. The reason for 
this relationship is, that a credit page represents 
how much we may be believed in financially; and 
to what amount people beheved in us who paid us 
for work; and to what amount people believed in us 



THE BUSINESS SIDE 3 

who gave us gifts in money. On the left-hand, or 
Debit, page are written the sums of money we have 
paid out. The word debit is related to due and duty 
and devoir. Therefore, on this page go the amounts 
which have been due to others for the things which 
we have had, and which it has been our duty to pay 
because we have had these things. If we are honour- 
able people, we will do our devoir in this matter. 

At the end of a day, or a week, or a month, as 
seems best, the account is balanced. This word 
balanced is a metaphor. By its means the credit 
and the debit pages are changed into the pans of 
a pair of scales, and the account is balanced when 
they hang even. That is, when the items on the 
debit page add up to the same amount that the 
items on the credit page add up to, the account 
balances. But suppose the pages do not add up to 
the same amount — they rarely do, and they rarely 
should — ^what then? Then the metaphor of the 
balance suggests what to do. If one scalepan is 
hghter than the other, put a weight into it. If the 
debit side is lighter, that is, if it is less than the 
credit side, add on the amount which will make 
it even with the credit side, and write beside that 
amount, "Balance." In that case, there is a httle 
money yet unspent, and when the next two pages 



4 HOUSEKEEPING 

of the accounts are begun this money yet unspent 
is put down at the head of the credit page Uke this : 

Balance on hand #2 . 39 

If, on the contrary, the credit side is less than the 
debit side, add the balance there. This means that 
something has been bought which has not been paid 
for, and the meaning of another word related to 
debit becomes intrusive — debt. Debt is sometimes 
a temporary necessity — ^like oxygen pumped into 
lungs which can no longer pump for themselves; 
sometimes it is a calamity, sometimes it is a dis- 
grace; and it is always dangerous. 

Two pages of an account such as a girl might 
keep of her personal expenses, when balanced at 
the end of a week, look like this: — 



1909 


Cash 


Dr. 


1909 


Cash 


Cr. 


July 1 

(I ti 

" 3 
" 4 

« 5 

(( « 

" 6 

u u 

" 7 


Veil 

Soda 

Gloves 


2 
11 


50 
20 
00 
25 
10 
75 
20 
10 
15 


July 1 

it u 

" 3 


Bal. on hand. . . . 

Allowance 

Birthday .... 


10 
5 


25 
00 
00 


Church 


Carfare 


Shampoo 

Postage 


Carfare 


Balance 


15 


25 


15 


25 



The person to whom this account belongs has a 
balance on hand of $11.15 to put at the head of 



THE BUSINESS SIDE 5 

the next credit page. She is evidently an exemplary 
person, for she has spent just about a fourth of her 
money in a fourth of the month. 

To a young housekeeper wishing to look into the 
matter of account keeping, I would recommend an 
interesting little book by Professor Charles Waldo 
Haskins, called "How to Keep Household Ac- 
counts.'* 

THE SCHEDULE 

In making and using a housework schedule, the 
housekeeper has a narrow path to tread, between 
chaos on the one hand and slavery on the other. 

If the idea of a housework schedule appeals to her, 
it would be wise for her to make as slight a schedule 
and be as little bound by it as possible. If, on the 
contrary, she feels sympathy with the woman who 
thought it would be more interesting to do the wash- 
ing on a different day each week, she should by all 
means have a rather detailed schedule and faithfully 
keep to it. 

A work schedule saves the time and strain which, 
without it, would be expended each day in deciding 
what was to be done; it prevents those who do the 
work or help with it from waiting round to be told 
what to do; and it keeps one day from being too 



6 HOUSEKEEPING 

hard and the next too easy. But we must not have a 
schedule which makes the accomphshment of a 
certain amount of housework in a given time seem 
a more important duty than the httle pleasant acts 
which make the comfort and pleasure of a home. 
K the man of the house wants his wife or daughter 
to walk to the car with him after breakfast, she 
should be able to go without feehng anxious or pre- 
occupied. The coming of an unexpected guest should 
not be thought a torment and a calamity because 
it disorders a schedule. When a small head is thrust 
under one's elbow and a small voice says, " Want 
to be loved now," confusion to anything which in- 
clines us to say, "Run away, you bother me.'* 

A household run on a strict schedule becomes an 
institution, not a home; on the other hand, a house- 
hold in which the work is done at any time or no 
time is neither clean, restful, nor knit together with 
the bonds of mutual service and mutual compKance. 

Housework is some of it daily, and some of it 
periodical. Bedmaking is daily; sweeping is peri- 
odical. There is also work which may be done by 
the workers in the house, or by others coming from 
without. In one family the laundry work, bread 
making, window cleaning, floor polishing and the 
like will be done by those in the house; in another, 




'J'hi- Acojunt Hook 



Photograph by Helen VV. Couice 



THE BUSINESS SIDE 7 

these things will be done out of the house, or by 
people who come in to do them. 

(a) DAILY WORK 

The following is a list of daily work in an average 
house. Besides these things some piece of periodi- 
cal work is done each day. 

Fire made or made up. 

Shades rolled up; windows opened a few minutes; suggestions of yesterday 
removed. 

(In summer, veranda arranged.) 

Breakfast prepared, served and cleared away. 

Pantry and kitchen put in order. 

Menu made and orders given. 

Downstairs rooms put in order. 

Bedrooms put in order. 

Bathroom put in order. 

Accounts. 

Preparations for second and third meals. 

Second meal served and cleared away. 

Rest. 

Third meal prepared, served and cleared away. 

Outside affairs usually decide the time at which 
these activities are performed. Meal hours in most 
cases depend on the work hours of some of the 
family, and on the meal hours depend the times when 
other things are done. Who shall do the work de- 
pends on the number of workers, the occupations 
which they have beside housework, and the periodical 
work of the day. 



8 HOUSEKEEPING 

(b) PERIODICAL WORK 

The following is a list of periodical work for an 
average house. 

Washing. 

Ironing. 

Sorting and mending linen and clothes. 

Sweeping and dusting. 

Bread baking. 

Thorough cleaning of the kitchen. 

Cleaning garbage can and surroundings. 

Cleaning refrigerator and food receptacles. 

Arrangements for days out. 

Preparations for Satiu-day and Sunday. 



Polishing furniture and floors. 
Cleaning silver. 

Cleaning of linen closet and others. 
Care of cellar. 

In simple households a detailed written schedule 
is not necessary perhaps nor desirable, unless it be 
for periodical work and the "days out." For these 
a schedule hke the one herewith might be made. 
This one is for two maids and includes some infre- 
quent work. 





Monday 


Tuesday 


Wednesday 


Thursday 


Friday 


Saturday 


Sunday 


COOK 


Washing 


Ironing 


Bake 
Clean re- 
frig., etc. 
Take wait- 
ress's work 


Day out 


Put cellar 
in order 


Bake, 
Clean 
kitchen 


Sunday 
out 


WAITRESS 


Washing 


Ironing 


Day out 


Sweep 
upstairs 


Sweep 
down- 
stairs 


Clean 
silver 


Take 
cook's 
work 


MISTRESS 


Help 
a little 


Help 
a little 


Sort and 

mend wash 

Help with 

work 


Help 
with 
work 


Help 
a little 


Get out 

clean 
linen and 
set closet 
in order 


Help 

with 
work 



THE BUSINESS SmE 9 

(c) SOME GENERAL PRINCIPLES 

One or two general remarks about schedules are 
necessary before the subject can be closed. 

As far as possible, heavy, dirty work should be 
done in the morning, the workers are more able to 
do it then, and besides, the cook does not wish to do 
such things when getting the dinner, nor the waitress 
when she should be dressed for the afternoon, nor 
the mistress at the social time of the day. 

In making a work schedule, a savings fund is as 
necessary as in making a plan of expenditure. If 
everyone in the house is doing as much as is possible, 
there is no allowance for accident, or illness, or un- 
expected demands. A Httle strength which is not 
nerves should be left in you and in your handmaidens 
at the end of the day. Housework extends over an 
exceedingly long day. At present, the only way to 
remedy this seems to be to arrange that each worker 
get a little rest some time in the day. I have put 
this as a necessary item in the table of daily work. 

If no savings fund of strength is possible, more 
workers are needed, or better workers; or, if this is 
impossible, the style of hving should be modified 
until it is appropriate to the force of workers. 

The schedule is not the important thing, but the 



10 HOUSEKEEPING 

work; and there are things more important even 
than the work. For instance, a reasonable degree 
of hberty for the whole household. 

The family, unless they take part in the work, 
should not be conscious of the work schedule. It is 
a framework to be carefully draped; a new kind of 
family skeleton to be kept in the closet as carefully 
as the old kind. It is necessary because it makes 
easy, natural regularity possible, and without it, as 
we have said, there is neither character, nor peace, 
nor mutual service in a home. 

The housework must be done — ^well and regu- 
larly done — and to accomplish this, days must be 
alike, and weeks must be ahke, and months and 
years alike. But they must be as the leaves on a 
tree are — alike to the casual glance, yet really some- 
what different, because capable of ^infinite adapta- 
bility. 




I'tioto^tapli by Helen W. Cooke 



Tlie Afternoon Rest 



n 

CARE OF FITTINGS AND FURNITURE 

THE time and strength necessary for house- 
work, and the comfort and happiness re- 
sulting from the work, depend much upon 
something which housekeepers have to a great extent 
the power to control. I mean the quantity and kind 
of things they have in their houses. 

Much time and money and weary labour would 
be saved, much comfort and loveliness would be 
gained if we could persuade ourselves to follow 
Wilham Morris's rule: 

"Have nothing in your rooms which you do not 
think to be beautiful and know to be useful." 

One would think that this rule of use and beauty 
were austere enough, yet many people, before they 
acquire even a useful or a beautiful object, must 
consider whether there is room for it in their home, 
whether the members of the household have time 
and strength to take care of it, and whether it is ap- 
propriate to their possessions and to their way of 

Hving. 

11 



12 HOUSEKEEPING 

The amount of space we have about us seriously 
affects our health of body and mind. The more 
furniture there is in a room, the less air space there 
is. The sense of oppression one feels in a room 
crowded with furniture is not imagination, there is 
Kterally much less air to breathe. It is also not 
merely an idea that a house full of ornaments and 
pictures is not restful to Hve in. One knows what 
matchless weariness results from hours spent in a 
museum; it is caused by contiaually readjusting 
one's eyes, and thoughts, and emotions to an endless 
succession of things. A room crowded with orna- 
ments and pictures is a miniature museum. With 
familiarity one may cease to see the individual 
objects the room contains, but this is indifference, 
not peace. 

Those who have not done housework with their 
own brains and bodies cannot reahze how many 
thousands of times every object in a house has to be 
touched and moved merely for the sake of cleanliness 
and order. It seems a small matter whether there are 
six pictures in a room or eight, whether flower vases 
are kept in the china closet or on the tops of book 
shelves and tables, whether there are five httle 
fal-lals on a mantelshelf or twenty-five; but I hardly 
think it is a small matter whether a woman spends 



CARE OF FITTINGS AND FURNITURE 13 

a half-hour with her children, or out of doors, or 
reading a book, or spends it in dusting tormenting 
trifles. These considerations are equally important 
when the work is done by maids; there are always 
enough useful things to do in a house to fill reason- 
able work hours. 

One must ask, then, even when a useful or beauti- 
ful object is in question. Have I room for it? and, 
Is it worth the time and strength needed to care for 
it? And then one more question : Is this thing I desire 
suitable? That is, will it make the rest of the furni- 
ture which cannot now be renewed look shabby? 
Shall I feel that it is too good for the sun to shine 
upon, or the family to use? Will it set up a standard 
wliich I cannot keep up to without feverish effort? 

In order to select or to weed out possessions in 
a reasonable way, attachments have to be kept in 
check; one must keep in mind that the family are 
more worthy of regard than the family chairs, aud 
one must have such respect for oneself as a spiritual 
and intellectual creature that one will not fall in love 
with a silver-service or a set of ancient plates. I can 
think of few things more humiliating than the fact 
that families can be divided by old furniture; that 
sisters can be estranged by silver sugar-tongs; that 
Uves can be spoiled, hearts broken and fortunes 



14 HOUSEKEEPING 

spent in the service of possessions which should exist 
only for the temporary comfort and happiness of 
their owners. 

All this does not mean that om* homes should be 
bare as hospitals, and ugly as barracks, and that, 
if the furniture is shabby, we ought not to have the 
one beautiful picture, or the good piano, or the 
hoard of books, which may be the treasure of the 
family. Nor does it mean that we ought not to love 
our household goods. 

We want our homes as complete in comforts and 
appliances as we can reasonably afford. We want 
them lovely to look at. And we shall be all the 
better if we have an affection for every stick they 
contain. Scrooge hugged his own bed-curtains, 
because the sight of them assured him that he was 
at home. For the same reason we love the things 
we Hve with, and the place where we live. We Hke 
to come back after an absence and find the same 
things in the same places, and get an extra welcome 
from every one of them. 

We naturally become attached to things which 
we hke, which we have taken thought to get, and 
which we have looked after for years. Heirlooms 
are the result of such care, affection, and com- 
panionship, continuing year after year, generation 



CARE OF FITTINGS AND FURNITURE 15 

after generation, until the objects on which this care 
has been expended seem to become a part of our- 
selves and our lives, until they seem to have absorbed 
some of the personality and affection of those who 
no longer dwell with them nor with us. 

But beware — lest sentiment uncontrolled im- 
pose on us a hfe-long slavery to things. Read and 
reflect upon the remainder of this chapter. As soon 
as w^e definitely realize that useless articles entail 
useless labor, there will be small danger in our homes 
of jimcrack — suffocation. 

The Ceiling. — ^In the first place each room has a 
ceiling. Ceilings are usually plain and light coloured, 
because they are not easy to look at and because 
they are reflectors. They are not ornamented on 
account of our necks; they are not made dark 
coloured on account of the light bills. 

Ceilings for the most part need little care. When 
the room is cleaned, they should be wiped, either 
with a long-handled mop with a wool head — dry — 
or with a broom in a bag. The former is harder to 
get but is better, because the combined length of 
the ordinary broom and the ordinary woman is not 
usually enough to reach the ceiling effectually and 
without strain. Besides, many brooms are too heavy 
to use above one's head. Such wiping nicely done 



16 HOUSEKEEPING 

is all the regular care a ceiling needs, whether it is 
whitewashed or frescoed. 

The Walls. — Walls are panelled, or painted, or 
calcimined, or covered with fabric or paper. Wood, 
paint and calcimine are considered cleaner than 
other coverings, but all can be kept up to an ordinary 
standard of cleanliness. 

Panelling should be carefully wiped with the wool- 
headed mop used for the ceiling, or with a cloth 
where it is within reach. If the wood is dark and 
polished, it may now and again be rubbed with a 
little good furniture polish; if it is light or unpol- 
ished it is better to content oneself with wiping off 
the dust. 

Fabric-covered walls should be cleaned once or 
twice a year with a vacuum cleaner. If this is not 
possible, they may be as often brushed. This must 
not be done violently, but carefully, and preferably 
with a hair broom — a white hair broom such as 
one uses for clothes, if the wall covering is especially 
handsome or delicate in colour. 

Painted walls may be wiped with a dry or damp- 
ened mop, or they may be washed with soap and 
water, or even with disinfectant, should this happen 
to be desirable. 

Calcimined walls may be wiped only with a soft 



CARE OF FITTINGS AND FURNITURE IT 

mop, or very gently with a broom in a bag. Mop 
or broom bag must often be shaken out of the win- 
dow, otherwise the walls will be smirched or clouded. 
Very little in the way of restoration or cleaning 
should be attempted with calcimine, for it almost 
invariably makes a bad matter worse. Spots such 
as are made by hands or heads can sometimes be 
removed by rubbing them with a piece of dry bread, 
or with some corn meal. It is safe to experiment 
with any dry remedy; but a wet remedy will always 
fail. Even calcimine itself, put over a spot or a 
scar, will leave a mark. 

Papered walls may be wiped with a dry mop, or 
a broom in a bag. They are not as easily smirched 
as calcimine, but one must frequently shake out 
of doors, or else change any brush or cloth used for 
wiping walls. 

If you need a reason for wiping walls and ceilings, 
look at the mop or the cover of the broom with which 
you have done the work. Dirt is the enemy of 
health and loveliness. 

Woodwork. — When woodwork is cleaned, all 
cracks, ornaments and irregularities should first be 
gone over with a small, soft brush. A flat brush 
such as is used for varnishing is good. 

If the woodwork is not polished, it should next 



18 HOUSEKEEPING 

be carefully — that Is, every inch of it — wiped and 
rubbed with a soft, dry cloth, or if the room is exceed- 
ingly dusty, with a cloth very slightly dampened. 
Any sort of oil, or polish, or even water is apt to 
darken or spot unpolished wood. In the case of 
baseboards and window ledges, however, a little 
dressing of some kind should occasionally be rubbed 
into them, for they have to be defended from 
dampness in the one case, and hard usage in the 
second. A little of the polish used for floors will 
do very well for this purpose. 

If woodwork is polished, the dust should be wiped 
off after the cracks have been cleaned with the little 
brush. It should then be rubbed briskly with a 
flannel or soft cotton cloth dampened with good 
furniture polish. Kerosene, which is usually at hand, 
is inexpensive and excellent for this and other 
purposes of the kind. But use this or polish sparingly. 

Painted woodwork should ordinarily be dusted with 
a little brush and then wiped just as if it were hard 
wood. Once in a while, it should be wiped with 
slightly warm suds made with mild soap. It should 
not be soaped nor made very wet, and should be 
wiped dry as soon as it is washed. Spots which 
will not yield to this cleaning can be removed with 
alcohol or kerosene. 



CARE OF FITTINGS AND FURNITURE 19 

Floors. — Some people will tell you that uncarpeted 
floors are a great deal of trouble, and sorae will say 
that they are very little. Perhaps part of the trouble 
which they seem to give is due to the fact that people 
keep their floors cleaner than their carpets. Dust 
shoivs, as we say, on a bare floor; it lies under furni- 
ture and blows about in fluffs. If the floor is car- 
peted, that very same dust, also the dust of other 
days when no sweeping is done, sinks into the 
carpet and assists in making colds and throat dis- 
orders and a stuffy smell. If we really minded dust, 
we would mind it just as much buried in the carpet 
as rolling round in fluffs. But we don't mind dust, 
we mind being thought dusty. If we have the same 
standard of cleanliness for the carpet as for the floor, 
the floor is the easier to care for. 

Uncarpeted floors are usually finished with oil, 
shellac, stain, wax or some other smooth, preserva- 
tive substance. Floors thus finished require three 
kinds of care; refinishing, polishing and dusting. 

Dusting. — Dusting should be done, if possible, 
every day. It does not require much time or strength. 
With a good mop or a broom in a bag, floors can be 
as quickly and lightly dusted as polished desks or 
tables. 

Polishing. — The frequency with which floors 



20 HOUSEKEEPING 

require polishing depends on the finish, the amount 
of wear, and the standard of appearance required. 
Some people polish them once a week, some once 
a fortnight, some once a month; others have their 
floors refinished twice a year and do nothing to them 
in the intervals except dust them. 

Waxed floors are polished differently from those 
finished with oil or shellac. 

To polish a waxed floor, first remove all dust with 
a hair broom, a wool mop, or a broom in a bag. 
Then rub carefully and energetically every inch of 
the floor with a heavy polisher until the polish is 
restored. The best polishers are costly, but others, 
less expensive, are made of strips of felt or chamois. 
They can also be home-made from a block of heavy 
wood with a hole bored diagonally in the top large 
enough to hold an old broom handle or a mop- 
stick. The bottom of the block must have several 
thicknesses of heavy material tacked over it. Old 
flannel, old bath towels, and old carpet are good for 
this purpose. 

Floors not finished with wax are polished with oil 
or some patent polish. Many patent mixtures for 
this purpose are exceedingly good. Besides these, 
two parts linseed oil to one part kerosene is a good 
polish; also one-half turpentine to one-half crude 



CARE OF FITTINGS AND FURNITURE 21 

oil. Kerosene used by itself both cleans and pol- 
ishes floors, but its odour is an objection to its use. 

As in the cases of the waxed floor, all dust must 
be removed before the polishing begins. When 
this is accomplished, rub the floor with a soft thick 
cloth dampened with polish. There should always 
be much rubbing and little oil. A quart of floor 
polish should last months. If by mistake too much 
oil is applied, rub the floor again with a dry cloth. 
When finished, it should feel smooth to the hand, 
not oily. 

If oily cloths are kept from one time to another, 
they should not be shut up closely in a box or closet 
for they are liable to spontaneous combustion. 

Refinishing. — Floors are refinished by receiving a 
new coat of finish. Before this is put on, the floors 
should be thoroughly cleaned. This cleaning is 
well done with sandpaper and turpentine. Every 
board must be rubbed in the direction of the grain 
until it is entirely smooth and clean. After this the 
floor should be wiped with a dry cloth, and the finish 
applied and polished. 

When it is necessary or desirable to wash a hard- 
wood floor, it should be done just before refinishing 
and with tepid water, soap that would not hurt 
hands nor lace and a cloth well wrung out before 



22 HOUSEKEEPING 

it is applied to the floor. Water is injurious to 
polished floors of any kind, and to waxed floors 
especially. 

If a floor receives hard wear in one or two places, 
or if something hurtful is spilled upon it, it may 
be necessary to refinish these places when the 
remainder of the floor does not need it. In such 
cases a few square feet can be done just as a whole 
floor is done. The final polishing will keep the 
place from looking like a patch. 

Rugs and Carpets. — Carpets tacked down close 
to the walls are not as clean as loose floor covering, 
and they are the chief cause of the fearful misery 
called house cleaning. Every other act necessary 
to the cleanliness of a house can be done without 
turning it upside down and driving the family to 
the club or the tavern except ^ taking up carpets. 
Rugs can be gathered up and taken to the lawn or 
the roof to be cleaned. The walls and floor of a 
room can be wiped within an hour. Windows can 
be washed and furniture and brasses polished with 
people sitting undisturbed in the room where it is 
being done. 

Before the possibility of unobtrusive cleaning 

had dawned on me, I was once making a visit in 

• a large city house. My surprise was almost painful 



CARE OF FITTINGS AND FURNITURE 23 

when I saw a man cleaning the wmdows in the 
drawing room only an hour before an afternoon 
reception. It did not mean that they had been 
forgotten, or that the house was carelessly run — 
far from it — it was merely the day for window 
cleaning and the man whose business it was to do 
it went from room to room and cleaned them, making 
no disturbance and leaving no trace. 

I make my protest against carpets for the reason 
that it is impossible to clean them in an unobtrusive 
way, and because they are the inspiring evil genius 
of cleaning done with emphasis — done, not for the 
sake of health and happiness, but for the sake of 
appearing to be a particular housekeeper. 

Nonetheless, if we have carpets they must be cared 
for. Before the sweeping is begun, something should 
be scattered over the carpet to keep the dust down. 
Some of the things used for this purpose are damp 
tea leaves, sawdust, bran, corn meal, and shreds 
of newspaper. There are also patent substances 
for the purpose. One must be careful that these 
things mentioned are damp, not wet. Tea leaves 
should be wrung out hard before they are scattered, 
and never used on any delicately coloured carpet. 
Newspaper also is not safe for very delicate colours. 

Any of these substances may be used in sweeping 



24 HOUSEKEEPING 

a tiled or painted floor; and any for an unpainted 
wooden floor except tea leaves. 

When preparing to sweep, make the room as light 
as possible. Sweep the cracks along the walls and 
the edges of the carpet first, then sweep as much of 
the room as possible in the same direction, that direc- 
tion being with the nap of the carpet, not against 
it. Sweep with short, light strokes — it is sweeping, 
not digging. When the dust is gathered into as 
small a pile as possible, take it up in a dustpan. 

After sweeping it is good to wipe the carpet with 
a cloth wrung out of warm, soapy water in which is 
a little ammonia. Turpentine is even better than 
ammonia for carpets, but not for hands. Do not 
wet the carpet, wipe it lightly and quickly, rinsing 
the cloth often, but wringing it out hard. 

One can to some extent combine this wiping pro- 
cess with sweeping by dipping one's broom now and 
then in water in which there is a little salt, ammonia 
or turpentine. Shake the broom lightly before apply- 
ing it to the carpet, or the first stroke will leave a 
wet spot. Salt, ammonia and turpentine brighten 
the colours of a carpet, and the latter two are objec- 
tionable to moths. It is better not to dampen carpets 
in any way on rainy or humid days. 

Rugs, when they cannot be carried out of the 



CARE OF FITTINGS AND FURNITURE 25 

room, may be swept according to the directions 
for carpets and then rolled up, or folded round some 
piece of furniture difficult to move, until the floor 
has been cared for. The pleasantest and best way 
to clean rugs, however, is to take them out of doors 
and beat them on the grass or on a clothes line. 
Beat them with a furniture beater, or light cane, or 
stick, first on one side then on the other, then lay 
flat and brush the surface with a broom. Beating 
is better than shaking, both for the rug and for the 
shaker. When they are shaken, however, it is 
advisable to hold them by the side instead of the 
end; they are then less likely to tear or ravel. 

Matting should be swept with especial care for 
cracks and edges, and crosswise of the breadths as 
far as possible. It should be wiped occasionally 
with salt and water, which cleans it and keeps it 
from becoming brittle. Many people prefer to use 
a hair broom for sweeping matting. 

Shades and Curtains. — ^All the cleaning that shades 
need can be given them by drawing them down to 
their full length and dusting them first on one side 
then on the other with a short-handled mop, or a 
duster if you can reach the roller with it. The side 
next the window is the more dusty as it is the out- 
side of the roll. When the shades have been dusted 



26 HOUSEKEEPING 

they should be rolled to the top of the window until 
the cleaning of the room is finished. 

If they do not roll up tightly and at once, take 
the shade from the socket, roll it up evenly, then 
hold the flat piece of metal which projects from one 
end of the roller between your thumb and fingers 
and turn the roller round and round with the other 
hand until it is very hard to turn. See that the little 
ratchet has fitted into the notch for it in the piece 
you are holding, to prevent it from flying back when 
you let go. Then the shade is ready to be replaced 
in the sockets. Shades which fly up unexpectedly 
are wound up too tight. 

Curtains should be shaken and brushed, with a 
whisk if they are of heavy material, with a softer 
brush if they are delicate. They should then be 
put in bags made for the purpose, or folded over 
the rod and covered with a dusting sheet until the 
room is clean. 

Furniture. — Upholstered furniture should if pos- 
sible be put out on a veranda where it can be aired 
and brushed. If this is not possible it should be 
beaten or brushed when we are preparing the room 
for cleaning. All creases and tufting should be 
carefully explored with a whisk and the furniture 
afterward covered with a cloth until the other 



CARE OF FITTINGS AND FURNITURE 27 

cleaning is finished. Furniture upholstered in leather 
should be wiped, not brushed, and occasionally 
rubbed with vinegar, and sweet oil — proportions, 
one tablespoonful vinegar to three of oil. In time 
this slightly darkens the colour of the leather, but 
it keeps it from cracking. 

On regular cleaning days polished furniture should 
have its carvings and cracks brushed out with the 
paint brush used for the woodwork of the room, and 
should then be rubbed with a very soft cloth. About 
once a month — oftener if the wear is hard, less 
often if it is easy — it should be rubbed with a good 
polish. The old furniture in France has usually 
been rubbed for generations with sweet oil and vine- 
gar, in the proportions given above for leather furni- 
fure; probably few things are better. Two of the 
polishes suggested for floors, are equally good for 
furniture : 

y2 turpentine to ^ crude oil. 

1 part kerosene to 2 parts linseed oil. 
Also, equal parts turpentine, linseed oil and vine- 
gar. 

I believe that the best care an amateur can give 
to a very highly polished piece of furniture like a 
piano, is to wash it, when it becomes clouded, with 
luke-warm soapsuds. The soap should be mild. 



28 HOUSEKEEPING 

good soap. Wash a bit of the furniture at a time 
and dry it carefully, using very soft cloths; when it 
has all been dried, polish it with chamois and as 
much energy as you can conscientiously spare. 

If painted furniture looks dingy, rub it with a little 
kerosene. Kerosene will usually remove spots from 
painted furniture — finger-marlcs from white enam- 
elled beds, for instance. 

Windows. — The woodwork of windows should be 
brushed and wiped free from dust before the washing 
of the glass begins. It is better not to use soap 
for washing windows or glass of any kind; it some- 
times clouds it, sometimes gives it a blue tinge. 
Put ammonia or borax in the water used, or else 
rub the glass with whiting, or a scouring soap which 
is not gritty. If one of these, or whiting, is used, 
it should be allowed to dry and should then be rubbed 
off with a dry cloth or a newspaper until the glass 
shines. Newspaper is as good as anything you can 
get for polishing windows. There is nothing especial 
to say about cleaning windows with water except 
wash the panes clean and dry them dry, one at a 
time, beginning with those nearest the top of the 
sash. Do not try to wash all the windows in a house 
with a pint of water and a wristband, but the oppo- 
site extreme is as bad — worse for your dwelling. 



CARE OF FITTINGS AND FURNITURE 29 

Any method of cleaning windows by dashing quanti- 
ties of water on the panes, breaks the putty, loosens 
the glass, spoils the paint on the woodwork and 
soaks the wood itself with water. 

Mirrors should not be wet. Fly-specks and 
finger-marks can be removed with a damp cloth 
or alcohol, and the mirror polished with whiting 
and chamois. 

Pictures, also, should not be wet. The frames 
and backs may be brushed and wiped, and the glass 
cleaned with a damp cloth or with a little alcohol. 

Brass. — Brasses, such as andirons, lamps, jar- 
dinieres, candlesticks, sconces and the like must 
be divided into two classes for cleaning. Those 
things which are lacquered must only be washed 
and then polished with flannel or chamois. Any 
sort of cleaning other than this v\^ill soon remove 
the lacquer entirely. Unlacquered brass may be 
polished as energetically and severely as any sub- 
stance in the house. 

Wood ashes are a good brass polish, especially 
pine ashes. 

The bath-brick with which people clean knives 
will also clean brass. 

An old coloured woman, who lived with me once, 
polished the andirons with salt and vinegar. 



30 HOUSEKEEPING 

These things are not as quick or as easy to use as 
many patent brass cleaners which one can buy nowa- 
days. It is just as well, however, to know what one 
could do if separated from modern conveniences. 

Tiles. — Glazed tiles may be wiped with a cloth 
wrung out of warm soapsuds, but water should 
not be put directly upon them. It tends to soften 
the cement in which they are laid. Unglazed tiles 
are restored to colour and cleanliness by a rubbing 
with linseed oil. 

Lamps. — Lamps used every night need care every 
day. They should be kept full of oil for two reasons. 
One is, that if we then happen to use them for an 
unusually long time they will not burn out ; the other, 
is, that if a lamp is full of oil no space is left for 
vapours rising from the oil, which otherwise may 
become compressed in the bowl and ignite when a 
match is applied to the wick. If there is a little 
screw-topped opening in the lamp where it can be 
filled without unscrewing the burner, use that open- 
ing for filling it. The burner should not be 
unscrewed unless it must be. Great care should be 
taken not to fill lamps too full; the level of the oil 
should be just below the lower side of the little open- 
ing, otherwise the oil will ooze out on the lamp and 
catch dust and give off a disagreeable odour. 



CARE OF FITTINGS AND FURNITURE 31 

It is better to rub off the hard burned crust of a 
wick than to cut it off. This leaves the wick more 
even and wastes it less. When it has been rubbed 
smooth and soft, see that it turns up and down easily 
and, if a round wick, that it is even. A flat wick 
should be slightly rounded, the middle being the 
highest point, like this diacritic ^^, not this --^ one. 
To be perfectly sure, light the lamp for a moment, 
put on the chimney, and if the flame is not the right 
shape alter the wick. When this is finished, wipe 
the burner inside and out, above and below, as care- 
fully as possible. An old water-colour brush is 
good for cleaning intricate burners. 

The time when a lamp needs a new wick is a good 
lime to boil the burner. Remove the old wick and 
put the burner into some receptacle not used for 
food, with water and washing-soda: one teaspoon- 
ful soda to one quart water. Then boil it well. 
This is a good thing to do whenever a lamp smells 
or gives a poor light. If a new wick and a boiled 
burner do not help the matter, either the oil is poor 
or a new burner is necessary. 

If a new lampwick is a little too wide for a burner, 
draw out two or three strands at one side. A wick 
should fill the opening for it, however, quite closely, 
especially if it has not yet been wet. 



32 HOUSEKEEPING 

One should have a special place for cleaning 
lamps, and for keeping the oil and everything else 
used in their care. Nothing used for lamp clean- 
ing or for applying kerosene should be used for any 
other purpose. Newspaper is good for cleaning 
lamps because when the work is finished it can be 
burned. It can be used to protect the table on which 
the cleaning is done, wicks can be rubbed and 
lamps wiped with it, and nothing cleans chimneys 
so well. Chimneys polished with newspapers rarely 
have to be washed. Washing is not good for 
them, it clouds them and makes them break more 
easily. 

The catches which hold the chimney must not 
press very tightly, for this breaks the expanding 
glass; they must, though, be tight enough to 
keep the chimney from falling if the lamp is 
moved. 

When a lamp is put in its place ready for lighting, 
the wick should be just visible above the socket in 
which it moves. It should be lighted while still 
at this level, then turned higher when the chimney 
has had time to heat. When the light is to be put 
out, turn the wick down until it disappears into the 
socket. This keeps the wick from smoking 
and thereby smelling. Turning a wick down. 



CARE OF FITTINGS AND FURNITURE 33 

however, does not always put out the flame; be 
sure that it is out before leaving the lamp for the 
night. 

Plants. — It seems not unreasonable to say that 
plants should not occupy the most agreeable win- 
dows of the living room, nor prevent the proper 
airing of the house in winter. This does not happen 
as often as it used to, but it does occasionally even 
now. In very few houses is there room for more 
than three or four plants, if it is remembered that 
the family have the first right to the light, and air, 
and window space. 

There is also the consideration that few plants 
can receive better care than many. House plants 
ought to be immaculate. They should be in neat 
pots standing in saucers or jardinieres, and should 
have all withered or unsightly leaves removed and 
the other leaves kept free from dust. If this is not 
done, they become that greatest eyesore, a degen- 
erated ornament. 

They should be put in a bathtub or sink when the 
rooms are cleaned, and sprayed and sponged and 
soaked. This helps to offset their unnatural life in 
warm, dry rooms. Plants thrive on attention. 
They love to be stirred, and watered, and sponged, 
and petted, and made much of. If we have only a 



34 HOUSEKEEPING 

few, we can treat them in this way, to their pleasure 
and our own. 

The Process. — We have spoken of the substances 
which more usually require the care of the house- 
keeper outside the kitchen and pantry, and of 
ways in which they can be cared for. It will be 
well now to describe the order in which cleaning 
is done, and to say a word about the appliances 
used. 

The first thing when cleaning is to be done is to 
gather the appliances needed for the work. If 
possible one should have a broom closet in which all 
the objects used in cleaning can be kept, then no 
time is wasted in hunting them up. Two rows of 
hooks, one high and one low, in some secluded spot 
will do instead of a closet. 

I do not say that one cannot clean a room with 
merely a broom and a duster. One can sweep 
everything with the broom, dust everything with the 
duster, and take the dust up on a newspaper. Good 
appliances, however, make work more thorough, 
more easy, and more interesting. Those which 
I suggest here are merely such as I know to be useful. 
As a woman learns her work and becomes more and 
more interested in it she will choose and invent 
appliances for herself. 




The Broom Closet 



Pliotograph by Helen W. Cooke 



CARE OF FITTINGS AND FURNITURE S5 
The following are the things I like to have to clean 
with: 

A short step-ladder, not heary. 

A wool mop head with two handles, one long, one short. 

A hair broom. 

A mop handle with two heavy floor cloths. 

A broom of medium weight, with a slim handle. 

A furniture beater. 

A long-handled dust pan. 

A flat paint brush. 

A whisk. 

A piece of chamois skin. 

Two cheese-cloth dusters, one damp, one dry. 

Two flannel dusters. 

Several dusting sheets. 

Dusters and dusting sheets can be made of very 
inexpensive or old material, and they are things in 
which it is well not to stint oneself. 

Wool-headed mops are usually called, in shops, 
piano dusters, but why should pianos have a monop- 
oly of anything so comfortable and convenient ? 
They are rather expensive but they last a long time, 
and can be washed perfectly clean. One can get 
along with one head and two handles, if necessary, 
by dusting the high things first, using the long 
handle, then the lower things and the floor, using 
the short handle. After this the head must be washed, 
for the floors will make it too dirty to use for walls. 
Wool gathers and holds dust more than any other 
substance I know. 



36 HOUSEKEEPING 

Other appliances which are used for wiping walla 
and floors are string mops, broom bags, and heavy 
cloths attached to a mop handle. String mops scat- 
ter lint and it is impossible to wash them entirely 
clean. Broom bags are good because they can be 
washed easily, and because they make a broom into 
a combination appliance useful either for sweeping 
or wiping. They are said to be better made with 
a ruffle. Mop handles with attachments to hold the 
cloths are easily obtainable and much better for all 
purposes than string mops. In choosing one, see 
that the attachment is neither heavy nor intricate. 
Cloths can be easily attached to a mop stick if a 
deep groove is cut in the stick two or three inches 
from the end. Hold the stick with the grooved 
end up. Lay over it two or three heavy cloths — 
in the way one would put an unfolded handkerchief 
over the end of one's finger. Draw them down and 
tie a string tightly round them in the groove. Then 
reverse the handle and the mop is ready for use. 
Patent handles are better than this homely contriv- 
ance in all but one respect: in using them one must 
guard against striking furniture or baseboards 
with the metal piece which holds the cloth. 

Here are a few important principles of cleaning. 

1. Prepare the place which is to be cleaned. 



CARE OF FITTINGS AND FURNITURE 37 

2. Begin at the top. A house Is cleaned from 
garret to cellar, a room from ceiling to floor, a 
staircase from top to bottom. 

3. Do not flap round with a cloth or a feather 
duster. The object of cleaning is to remove dust, 
getting as little into the air as possible. 

4. All necesssary shaking and brushing must 
be done before the floor is cleaned; afterward, only 
wiping should be done. 

We will now go over the process of cleaning a 
room as if we were prompting ourselves for the 
actual work. 

Remove the plants to the sink. 

Remove and carefully dust the ornaments, putting 
them on a tray which can be carried into an adjoining 
room, or put them on a stationary piece of furniture, 
which has been dusted to receive them, and cover 
with a dusting sheet. 

Shut the doors into adjoining rooms. 

Open the windows. 

Dust the shades and roll to the top of the windows. 

Shake, brush and cover the curtains. 

Remove the upholstered furniture and rugs if 
possible. 

If not, brush the furniture and cover it, sweep 
and roll the rugs. 



38 HOUSEKEEPING 

If there is a fireplace in the room remove the 
ashes and lay the fire. 

Wipe the ceiling, walls, woodwork, light fixtures 
and pictures. 

Wipe the floor, not forgetting the baseboards, 
or sweep the carpet. 

Whatever is done to the floor is the climax of the 
cleaning. After that we restore the room to order. 
This is the period when everything should be done 
by wiping. 

Clean rugs and furniture which have been put out- 
doors. 

Wipe furniture, mirrors, picture-glasses, windows 
and tiles. 

Restore the rugs, furniture and ornaments to their 
places. 

Bits of special cleaning like polishing brasses, 
washing windows, caring for lamps, and the like 
are best done at some other time than that appointed 
for cleaning the room. If these jobs are included, they 
make the regular cleaning too heavy and too long. 

This process has been written out as if the work were 
to be done by one person, which frequently is not the 
case. It is the logical order of the work, however, 
whatever the number of workers. The outline of 
the process is this: 



CARE OF FITTINGS AND FURNITURE S9 

First all brushing and dusting — everything 
which gets dust off other things on to the floor. 

Then the cleaning of the floor. 

Then wiping away all dust made by the cleaning 
and restoring order. 

One cannot effectually do this or any housework 
with one's mind on something else. The processes 
are intricate and logical and require thoughtful 
organization beforehand, and intense attention at 
the moment. If we can think about our neighbours, 
or brood over our grievances while we are cleaning, 
we can be quite sure that we have not done the work 
as well nor as quickly as we could. 



vn 

UPSTAIRS WORK 

UPSTAIRS work" is, I believe a colloquial- 
ism for making beds, tidying bedrooms, 
and caring for washstands and bathrooms. 

The Sequence. — A reasonable order for this work 
is the following: 

Shut the door of the room unless the weather is 
warm. 

Roll the shades to the top of the windows. 

Open the windows top and bottom. 

Open the closet doors. 

Take the bedclothes from the bed and spread them 
across two chairs set far enough apart to keep the 
clothes from lying on the floor. Spread the lower 
sheet in a place by itself and remember which it is. 
Turn the mattress over the foot of the bed, or turn it 
up on edge. 

Do these things in all the rooms which are to be 
cared for, carefully shutting the doors of each. 

If there are washstands in the rooms, now remove 
the waste water and put the stands in order. 

40 



UPSTAIRS WORK 41 

If there are not, make the beds, beginning with the 
one first opened. 

Dust and put the rooms in order. 

Put the bathroom in order. 

If the bedrooms are on more than one floor, it is 
Vv''ell to do a floor at a time, and the bathrooms after 
all the rooms are finished. 

The upstairs work is then finished until the beds 
are opened and the rooms put in order for the night. 

The Description. — The first five actions in this 
order of work are done for the sake of letting as 
much light and air as possible into the rooms and 
the beds. 

The washstands are put in order next because this 
gives the beds a longer time to air, and because it 
is desirable to get the waste water out of the rooms 
as soon as possible. 

Washstands. — For this work one needs a pail for 
waste water and a newspaper or some such thing for 
it to stand on; two cloths; a stiff brush; and some sort 
of soap or powder which has been found good for 
cleansing toilet china. Borax, ammonia and yellow 
soap are old standbys for this purpose. Where 
there is not running water, one must add to these a 
pail of water for rinsing. Many people think that 
the water for this purpose must be hot, but I have 



42 HOUSEKEEPING 

found that hot water tends to roughen and crack the 
glaze of toilet china, and to incline the articles used 
for waste water to give off an odour. When water 
is left in the pitchers it is well to use it for rinsing as 
this lessens the amount of water to be carried, and 
insures that the water in the pitchers is fresh each 
day. 

Empty all the waste water into the pail brought for 
it. Pour a little clean water into each thing emptied. 
Do not use all the clean water for this first rinsing. 
With one of the cloths wipe the objects on the wash- 
stand which have not been wet; rinse, and with this 
same cloth dry the tooth mug, soap dish, pitchers 
and bowl. If one of the pitchers contains water 
you need, attend to it after the other china is finished. 
W^ash the slop jar and chamber with the cleaning 
substance or soap and the stiff brush. Rinse them 
with the remaining clean water and dry them with 
the other cloth. Never use for these articles the 
cloth which in the next room will be needed for the 
cleaner china. To have the two cloths of different 
materials helps the worker to remember this. Fill 
the pitchers with fresh water, carry away soiled 
towels, neatly spread or fold once used ones which 
are to be retained, and leave everything in its place. 
The daily care of a stationary basin consists merely 



UPSTAIRS WORK 43 

in washing or dusting the objects on the edge of the 
basin or on shelves over it, vi^ashing and drying the 
basin and the frame vrhich holds it, and wiping dust 
from the pipes and fixtures underneath. 

Whether the care of wash stands is difficult or easy 
depends on the water used, and on whether the work 
is done nicely every day. In spite of daily care, 
very hard water will encrust the china. These 
encrustations can usually be removed after they 
have been soaked with vinegar for a few hours. 

Bed Making. — Making a bed is an art worth 
knowing, it gives such comfort. 

If the spring or other parts of the bedstead need 
dusting, that should be done first, then the mattress 
replaced. This should be turned each day, some- 
times from end to end, sometimes from side to side, 
and given as many thumps and punches as are needed 
to make it level and even with the springs. 

If a pad or cover of any kind is needed over the 
mattress, that is put on first and spread very smoothly, 
or, if wide enough, it is drawn very tightly and 
tucked under the mattress. 

Then put on the under sheet, right side up, with 
the hems at the top and bottom, the selvages at the 
sides and the middle crease in the middle of the bed. 
Turn the sheet smoothly under the mattress at the 



44 HOUSEKEEPING 

head and foot. In the case of the under sheet, this 
turn should be a few inches deeper at the head than 
at the foot; in the upper sheet the deeper turn should 
be made at the foot. The person who sleeps in the 
bed naturally pushes the under sheet down, and 
pulls the upper sheet up. 

To fold the corners, stand at the foot or head of the 
bed. Keeping the fold even, hold the sheet straight 
out from the side of the bed. Put your other hand 
under the corner of the mattress and run it round 
on the fold of the sheet until the thumb is even with 
the upper edge of the mattress. Hold it there. Then 
fold smoothly under the mattress the part of the sheet 
you have held out and withdraw your hand which 
you will find is in a sort of little pocket. This is 
sometimes called a pie corner, and it is rather like 
the fold for a mitred corner in a hem. When fin- 
ished, the under sheet should be tight stretched and 
smooth. 

Spread the upper sheet on the bed wrong side up, 
then when the hem is turned back at the head of the 
bed, it will be right side out. Turn the sheet under 
at the foot twelve inches if possible. Turn the 
corners at the foot but do not turn the sides under nor 
the corners at the head. See that the sheet lies 
straight, and smooth out all wrinkles. 



UPSTAIRS WORK 45 

Put on the blankets, their upper edges reaching to 
the place where you intend to make the backward 
fold in the sheet. Fold them under about twelve 
inches at the foot, not at all at the sides; smooth 
them carefully. 

If two people sleep in a bed or if the blankets are 
narrow, put a single blanket on crosswise, placing one 
of the selvages even with the edge of the mattress 
at the foot of the bed, then the ends will hang some 
distance over the sides. Some people fold double 
blankets evenly, some prefer to fold them with one 
binding a good way below the other binding. This 
preference depends on whether one likes the upper 
part of the bed covering thick or thin, and also 
whether the blanket is long enough to turn under 
at the foot when folded evenly. The fold, not the 
bindings should be at the foot of the bed, in order 
that, if too warm, one thickness of the blanket can 
be easily thrown back. 

When all the bedclothes are on, with the excep- 
tion of the spread, turn back the edge of the upper 
sheet over the blankets, leaving about a foot of the 
under sheet exposed. Then fold all the coverings 
neatly under the mattress at the sides, drawing them 
smooth and straight. 

The spread is put over the whole bed. It should 



48 HOUSEKEEPING 

hang over at the sides and foot, far enough to hide the 
mattress, springs and all under parts of the bed 
which are not of the same material or finish as the 
upper parts. 

Bolsters are laid flat either under or over the 
spread at the head of the bed. They are not so 
invariably used as in times past. 

If there is no bolster, two pillows are sometimes 
laid flat in its place, and two pillows set on edge upon 
them. If there is a bolster, the pillows are set edge- 
wise upon it. They must be well beaten, smoothed 
and set up securely. 

If shams are used they should be spread over the 
pillows and bolster as smoothly as possible. They 
are usually supported by tapes fastened across the 
upper corners of the shams on the wrong side, and 
slipped over the corners of the pillows. 

In places where dust and smuts must be constantly 
guarded against, one must either use shams or else 
cover the pillows with the spread. This last is 
often not an agreeable arrangement to the eye, but 
it is better than smirched and dingy pillows. 

Bed linen is changed according to the quantity 
of linen the housewife possesses, the amount of 
laundry she can have done, and her own taste in the 
matter. The common tradition is a sheet a week 



UPSTAIRS WORK 47 

for each bed, and a pillowcase a week for each 
pillow regularly used. In this case, the upper sheet 
becomes the lower sheet during the second week of 
its wear. This change is made because it is more 
ag-reeable to have the cleaner linen nearest one's face, 
and turned out to view when the bed is opened for 
the night. 

If you do not sleep long and soundly after reading 
this description of bed making, I am sure it isn't 
my fault. 

When the bed has been made, the room should be 
put in order; clothes put in the closet and the closet 
door shut, the sweeper run over the rugs if needful, 
all visible dust removed, articles on bureaus and 
tables put in their accustomed places, all drawers 
tightly closed, faded flowers and burnt matches 
removed, and everything straightened. Then partly 
close the windows, draw the shades to the same 
level at each window, and go on to the next 
room. 

In extremely damp or extremely cold weather, 
one may have to get along with less airing, but it 
should not be lessened except for grave cause. In 
some houses, it will be more convenient to make all 
the beds before doing any dusting. If there are 
people in the house who do not leave their rooms 



48 HOUSEKEEPING 

until after breakfast, or who wish to occupy them 
very soon after breakfast, such rooms will have to 
be done separately and later or earlier than the 
others. 

In the evening, bedrooms should be prepared for 
the night. Waste water should be carried away, 
pitchers filled, washstands tidied and beds opened. 
Shams and spread are removed from each bed and 
neatly folded. Leaving the sheet folded over the 
other bedclothes as it is already, turn them all back 
until they make a straight wide fold across the bed 
a little above the middle. Then straighten the 
coverings at the sides and tuck them under the mat- 
tress again, making everything very neat and straight. 
Put the pillows on the bed as the person who occu- 
pies it likes to have them. This can sometimes be 
discovered by noticing in the morning how the 
pillows are placed, unless the person is so exemplary 
as to open his own bed for airing. If you are pre- 
paring the bed for a stranger put the bolster and 
pillows back on the bed and allow the guest to 
arrange them later. 

The night clothes and wrapper belonging to the 
occupant of the room should be laid across the foot 
of the bed or over a chair, and bedroom slippers put 
beside them on the floor. 



UPSTAIRS WORK 49 

This part of the upstairs work adds exceedingly 
to the comfort of a family, but I think it is one of 
the things to be left undone in households where the 
work is heavy and the workers few. 

Bathroom. — The bathroom, like other rooms, needs 
some daily care and some periodical care. 

Daily the stationary basin must be cared for as 
previously described. 

The tub and its fixtures must be washed, and 
wiped entirely dry. For this it is good to have a 
stiff brush with a handle and a soft cloth. Both 
these conveniences should always be kept hanging 
on a hook near the tub. It is only common decency 
after one has used a bathtub to rinse and wipe it 
for the sake of the next person. If a brush and neat 
cloth are kept near the tub, the good-intentioned will 
find it easier to cleanse the tub, and the lazy will have 
less excuse for not doing it. 

The wood and metal parts of the closet should be 
wiped, first with a damp cloth, then with a dry one. 
The china parts should be scrubbed thoroughly 
with soap and one of the long-handled brushes made 
for this purpose. When the scrubbing is finished, 
flush the closet and rinse it with the brush, then 
flush again. Leave the cover open. The bathroom 
should be thoroughly aired and as much sun as 



50 HOUSEKEEPING 

possible let in while the upstairs work is being 
done. 

Once a week, or twice a week, the bathroom will 
need a more thorough cleaning. Wipe the ceiling 
and walls with water if the finish permits. If not, 
with a dry cloth or mop. Wash all the fixtures, the 
woodwork and the floor with soap and water, and 
carefully dry them. Do not forget the outsides of 
the tub and basin. If the fixtures are nickel, they 
should be polished when they really need it, not 
oftener, with some patent nickel polish or with 
v/hiting. The woodwork of the closet should be 
rubbed with oil, especially if the finish begins to 
be worn. This prevents the wood from absorbing 
impurities. 

If there are rugs in the bathroom, they should be 
washed as soon as they show need. No rug which 
cannot be washed should be allowed in an ordinary 
bathroom. 

Many people recommend flushing waste-pipes 
now and then with a strong hot solution of washing 
soda. The overflow pipes should be included in 
this performance. Good, new plumbing, however 
can probably be spared treatment of this sort. 

Bedrooms are cleaned every week or every fort- 
night in the same way that other rooms are. They 




yAir, Sun, and Water 



Photograph by Helen W. Cooke 



UPSTAIRS WORK 51 

are apt, however, to contain closets and these require 
some special care. 

Clob-ets. — When a room is being prepared for clean- 
ing, the floor and baseboards of the closet should 
be wiped with a dry mop or cloth — anything which 
will not make a dust — and the door tightly closed. 
Once in a while, before the cleaning of the room if 
there is time, if not, on some other day, the clothing 
should be removed from the closet, the walls wiped, 
and everything washed which can be, — hooks, wu'e 
hangers, the rods on which these hang, shelves and 
floor should be washed with water in which has been 
put a generous quantity of ammonia, borax or 
boracic acid. These things are not liked by the 
various small insects which annoy housewives. They 
also help to prevent mustiness and "close" odours. 
After the washing, everything should be carefully 
wiped dry, and as much light and air let into the 
closet as possible. The contents should not be put 
in again until this drying and airing is finished. 
Do not wash closets on a rainy or humid day. If they 
have a musty or unpleasant odour, a few drops of 
oil of lavender put on a shelf or on the floor will help 
to remove it. A little chloride of lime, poured into 
a saucer and set on the floor of the closet, will also 
remove odours. Little bags of lavender or rose- 



52 HOUSEKEEPING 

geraniurQ leaves laid on closet shelves add much to 
the daintiness and freshness of the clothes kept there. 
The shelves should be covered with white paper 
cut, not folded, to fit the shelf. Folds afford harbour- 
age for insects. Floors should be left without 
covering of any sort. Ideally, they are of hard wood 
like the floor of the room. 

Clothes get more air, and are less creased and 
rumpled if they are hung on hangers suspended on 
a pole or wire, than when they are hung one piece 
on top of another on hooks fastened into the wall. 
Even in a wall closet, not more than ten inches deep, 
one gains space by stretching a strong wire from 
opposite hooks, and putting hangers on this. Four 
or five waists or dresses will hang without crushing 
on such a ten-inch wire. A closet with a shelf in it 
offers better hanging-space if hooks are put at 
intervals into the under side of the shelf. A hook 
like two J's, back to back, is made especially for this 
purpose. 

It is well to give bedrooms a look of peacefulness. 
Some things which help in this are: perfect clean- 
liness, few decorations, few colours, a bed which 
looks like a bed, a regard for the occupant's wishes 
to have personal possessions one way rather than 



UPSTAIRS WORK 58 

another, and something else — I have no name for 
it, but it is there because the housewife has wished, 
as she made the bed and arranged the room, that the 
person who sleeps there may have rest and quiet of 
heart. 

She has folded into the sheets perhaps this prayer: 

And four great Angels guard this bed. 
Two at the foot and two at the head. 



VIII 

DINING-ROOM AND PANTRY WORK' 

THE dining room is put in order daily and 
cleaned periodically in the same way that 
the other rooms in the house are cared for. 
The daily care of this room, however, has to be a 
little more thoroughly and thoughtfully given. It 
should be noticeably neat, carefully aired, and a trifle 
cooler than a living room. Pure air and the rest- 
fulness of order are favourable and refining to 
appetite. 

To allow fruit or any kind of food to stand in the 
dining room is a poor custom. Such things attract 
flies, create an odour of food in the room, and encour- 
age the indulgent habit of eating bits now and then 
between meals. 

The plant or flowers used on the table need a little 
care each day. Water in which flowers stand, quickly 
becomes discoloured enough to show dark against 
a white cloth, and soon gives off an unpleasant odour. 
Even when there is little time for looking after such 
things, one can take the flowers out, holding them 

54 



DINING-ROOM AND PANTRY WORK 55 

in position, quickly clip off the ends of the stems 
and the leaves that are wet, and put them back into 
fresh water. A plant should be watered each day 
and have dust and withered leaves removed from it. 

The hours for meals should be times of rest and 
social pleasure, they cannot be if disagreeable sights, 
sounds, or smells accompany them. Keep the dining 
room neat, aired and cool. In a clean, well-kept room 
there will be less fault-finding, scolding and gloom 
than in a neglected one. Such a room will also 
help people to be agreeable, attentive and interesting, 
in harmony with their surroundings. 

The Table. — If the dining table has a polished 
top it will need special and frequent care. Some 
people prefer a table of which the top is a plain white 
wood because it does not need special care. Such a 
table must of course be kept covered with a linen 
cloth at meals and a table cover at other times. 

A polished table must be constantly guarded from 
heat and scratches, and must be polished at regular 
intervals. WTiere very hot dishes are to be placed 
the table should have added to the usual protection 
of an undercloth the further protection of asbestos 
or basketwork mats. These can be hidden, if you 
wish, with linen carving cloths or doilies. 

Rub the table briskly for a few moments every 



56 HOUSEKEEPING 

day "with a soft cloth or a piece of chamois skin. 
About once a week polish it more carefully. Before 
either of these performances remove any stickiness 
or greasiness with a damp cloth. 

The mixture of sweet oil and vinegar recommended 
for furniture is excellent for a table. (1 tablespoonful 
of vinegar to 3 of sweet oil.) A mixture of equal 
parts sweet oil and turpentine is also good. Rub 
the table thoroughly with a soft cloth dampened 
with the mixture, then rub it with a clean cloth. 

Dull spots occasionally appear even on the most 
carefully guarded tables. Long and frequent polish- 
ing will sometimes remove these. If the finish is 
seriously injured, however, amateur efforts to restore 
it are more likely to make it worse than better. 

On account of frequent rubbing and unavoidable 
wear, the table-leaves in use should often be changed 
for those not in use, the whole table will then be of 
the same colour and in the same condition. 

Table Setting. — Before beginning to set the table, 
see that it is the right size. Neither people nor 
dishes should be crowded if this can possibly be 
avoided; it is also undesirable to have the table 
too large for the number at the meal. 

For dinner the table is first spread with a cotton- 
flannel or felt undercloth. This is not only to save 



DINING-ROOM AND PANTRY WORK 57 

a polished table from injuries; it improves the 
appearance of any table and prevents noise. Over 
it is laid the linen cloth, the middle crease running 
the length of the table exactly in the middle. 

In some households a smaller, lighter tablecloth 
is used for breakfast and luncheon. In others, a 
luncheon cloth of embroidered linen, lace or drawn 
work is used for these less formal meals. In others, 
the table is left bare and doilies spread where 
plates and dishes are to be set. Many people who 
use doilies or a luncheon cloth for luncheon prefer 
a covered table at breakfast. These are all matters 
of taste or economy with one exception. It is the 
custom to spread the table for dinner with a cloth 
which entirely covers it. 

When the tablecloth has been laid, a centrepiece 
of linen or lace is sometimes placed upon it in the 
centre of the table. If carving is to be done, a carving 
cloth is placed at the foot of the table in such a posi- 
tion that the platter will stand in the middle of it. 

All the table linen, when removed, should be 
refolded in the creases made by the iron. Centre- 
pieces and doilies should be laid flat in a drawer or 
the former rolled on a roller. A little care in this 
matter keeps the cloths fresh longer and protects 
delicate linen from too frequent washing. 



58 HOUSEKEEPING 

A napkin is laid at each place, on the right or 
in the centre. Napkins should match the table- 
cloth but this is not always possible because they 
have to be changed more frequently than the cloth. 
Fresh napkins every day at dinner is the agreeable 
and not extreme method of changing them; to have 
fresh ones at every meal is rarely possible or neces- 
sary except in hotels; a change twice a week is the 
minimum at which any degree of comfort can be 
maintained. 

When all the linen necessary is on the table, place 
exactly in the middle of the linen centrepiece the 
vase of flowers, plant or dish of fruit which is to 
be the centre decoration of the table. It makes 
variety and daintiness if this decoration is flowers 
or a plant or even a silver or glass vase rather than 
food in any form. A pretty thing helps to remind us 
that eating is not the only thing for which we come 
together. It may also afford a topic for pleasant 
conversation. 

After the centre decoration is placed put on candle- 
sticks or lamps, carafes, decanters, salts and peppers 
and any large objects which are to be used, leaving 
places for bread plates, relish dishes and the like. 
These things should be arranged symmetrically, not 
as if they were men on a checker-board, but with 



DINING-ROOM AND PANTRY WORK 59 

the sort of symmetry which the leaves on a vine have. 
If there is not some evidence of design in the arrange- 
ment of a table, it will look littered. 

Add now to the napkin at each place, everything 
which will be needed during the meal, or until the 
serving of the sweet at luncheon or at dinner, or until 
the serving of fruit as a last course at any meal. 
The finger bowl, doily and silver needed for these 
courses are frequently arranged on the plate to be 
used and brought to each place at the beginning 
of the course. 

At the left of the place lay the forks in the order 
in which they are to be used; at the right lay the 
knives in the same order with their edges toward the 
plates; at the right of the knives lay the soup spoon. 
If the dessert spoon is put on the table it is placed 
at the right of the knives and the soup spoon. 
Spoons are laid on the table with the hollow of the 
bowl up, and forks with the ends of the tines up. 

Besides the silver each place needs a glass for 
water — glasses are turned up, not down — and 
others suitable for any beverages which are to be 
served. A salt cellar will be needed if individual 
salts are used. These are not regarded favourably 
at present but are tolerated if each has a spoon.. 
And either a small butter plate or a bread and butter 



60 HOUSEKEEPING 

plate and butter knife are put at each place except 
sometimes at dinner when butter is not served. 
When meals are formally served a plate is put at 
each place which is removed when the first course 
is brought. 

One cannot lay places correctly without knowing 
the menu for the meal. The food to be eaten deter- 
mines the objects needed for eating it. 

When the table is set with the exception of the 
food, the sideboard or serving table, or both should 
be arranged. On these are put dessert or fruit 
plates arranged with finger bowls and silver, all 
the china not to be heated which will be needed for 
the courses of the meal, any seasonings or bottled 
sauces which the family are in the habit of asking 
for, a crumb tray and napkin or scraper, a small 
napkin or doily with which a spot of gravy or fruit 
juice could be quickly removed from the tablecloth, 
a water pitcher and a serving tray. If after-dinner 
coffee is made on the table, it is convenient to set 
out all the articles needed for this on a tray on the 
sideboard. Room must be kept on the serving 
table for the vegetable dishes which are usually 
left there during the course to which they 
belong. 

A few minutes before a meal is served is the time to 



DINING-ROOM AND PANTRY WORK 61 

place food such as pickles, jelly, bread, butter and milk 
on the table or the serving table and to fill the glasses 
with water. If ice is put into each glass it should 
be done carefully with a spoon. It adds to the 
appearance of butter balls and helps to keep them 
cool if a lettuce leaf is laid in the dish under them. 
They keep their shape and firmness better if kept 
in a bowl of water when in the refrigerator. At 
luncheon or breakfast bread is served on a plate 
or tray, or the loaf, board and knife are put on the 
table. At dinner a piece of bread is laid by each 
place or tucked into each napkin. Hot biscuits 
keep hot longer if a napkin is spread over the plate 
and folded over them. Cold bread or crackers, also 
cheese, are often served on a folded napkin, they 
look better so than on a plate. 

In laying the table, time, steps and thought can 
be saved by taking as many things as possible from 
one place at one time. That is, after the linen is on 
the table. First put on everything needed from 
the sideboard, then everything needed from the 
china closet, then everything needed from the pantry. 
All the articles from each place can sometimes be 
brought in one trip with the help of a tray. If the 
flat silver is kept in a basket, it is better to carry 
the basket from place to place and take out what 



62 HOUSEKEEPING 

is needed. This saves steps and some handling 
of the silver. 

When the places where the dishes and silver are 
to be kept are first decided upon, and when the order 
in which the table is set is first learned, both should 
be done with the thought of saving steps and of 
opening drawers and doors as seldom as possible. 

Tables should be set without noise. Not only 
because it is disagreeable to hear the rattling of 
dishes but because thumps, and clatter, and jingle 
mean scars on the table, nicks in the china, scratches 
on the silver and a lack of that dainty carefulness 
without which a table is never perfectly set. 

Waiting. — "Waiting" requires more "head" 
than other household employments. One can keep 
accounts slowly and laboriously, one can sweep 
without possessing much tact, one can even cook 
without possessing a great degree of administrative 
ability, or do laundry work without a good memory. 
To "wait" cleverly requires all these qualities. 

The object of waiting is that the needs and wants 
of those seated at table shall be supplied without 
effort, often without consciousness on their part. 
It also preserves the orderliness of the table, and 
makes inquiries about people's wishes unnecessary. 
One occasionally hears the objection made to careful 



DINING-ROOM AND PANTRY WORK 63 

waiting that it makes people thoughtless for the 
comfort of others. I would suggest that conver- 
sation made agreeable and amusing to others requires 
greater and more continued thoughtfulness than 
passing the beans and the butter. 

The waitress should have in her mind a plan 
of the meal including not only the food but also the 
china, silver and linen needed for serving it. If 
a meal is more than two courses long, it is often better 
to have the plan written out. This is a little trouble, 
but saves mistakes, and the necessity of stopping 
to think when one has not time to think. 

The waitress is expected to be in the dining 
room when the family enter for the meal. She should 
be ready to serve the first course as soon as they are 
seated. If this course is oysters or grape-fruit or 
some such thing, plates containing it are set before 
each guest. Two plates can be brought at once 
if there are no plates already on the table; if there 
are, the waitress can only bring one plate for she 
must remove the empty plate before she can set the 
other dowTi. When the plates are all on the table 
she will then pass anything which accompanies the 
course. Sometimes various small relishes and bis- 
cuits such as are required with raw oysters can be 
put on the tray and all passed at the same time. 



64 HOUSEKEEPING 

When the course is finished the soiled plates are 
removed two at a time and after that anything from 
the table belonging to the course. The soup plates 
are then brought and set before the hostess if the 
soup is to be served on the table. The tureen is 
placed before her, uncovered, and the cover deposited 
on the serving table. The waitress stands at the 
left of the person serving, takes each plate as it is 
ready and places it before a guest. If the soup is 
served from the pantry or the serving table, the 
plates are brought two at a time, as for the former 
course. 

With a few changes in detail to be noted 
below, courses are served as one or other of the 
two described. This is an outline for serving a 
course. 

Remove the food of the preceding course. 

Remore the plates. 

Remove reUshes, biscuits, etc., belonging especially to that course. 

Remove unused plates and silver belonging especially to that course. 

Bring the plates for or containing the next covuse. 

Bring the chief dish of the course. 

Serve each person. 

Pass anything which completes the course, Hke sauce or gravy. 

Pass anj-thing which accompanies the course, like vegetables, or 
sometimes, a salad. 

See that glasses are filled, and guests suppKed with butter. 

Listen for the answer when any one is asked to accept a second 
helping or consulted about his wishes. 

After an interval, pass a second time anything of which a second 
helping may be taken, provided there is none of it on the plate. 



DINING-ROOM AND PANTRY WORK 65 

Detail (a). — It is the custom for the host to 
serve the fish and do the carving. Perhaps it is 
a survival from the days when these things were 
the trophies of his hunting and fishing. The hostess 
serves the soup, salad and dessert. 

Detail (6). — If the family is large the plates 
for the meat should be put on the serving table 
and one placed before the carver at a time. The 
waitress stands beside the carver with the next 
plate in her hand and puts it before him when she 
removes the one which is ready to pass. Or if the 
waitress is too much occupied to do this, three 
or four plates can be put before the carver, then three 
or four more. 

Detail (c). — A vegetable requiring a separate 
plate, such as asparagus or corn on the cob, is served 
after the other vegetables. A plate for it is first put 
at the left of each place and then the vegetable is 
passed. Salad, when served with the meat course, 
is arranged for and passed in the same way. 

Detail (d) . — Everything to which a guest is 
to help himself is passed to him from the left side 
that he may comfortably use his right hand. Things 
which he has already accepted, like a serving of 
meat or a cup of coffee, are placed before him by 
the waitress. 



66 HOUSEKEEPING 

Detail {e) . — Some authorities say that the people 
on one side of the table should be served in the order 
in which they sit, then the people on the other side 
in the same order, without regard to sex or precedence. 
This is well enough for a table full of people of about 
equal age and importance, but in an ordinary 
family there are apt to be guests or a grandmother 
to whom all slight deferences are due. I took a 
meal with a family not a great while ago at 
which the two small children were served before 
the guests and their mother. Extraordinary spec- 
tacle ! 

The question whether the hostess shall be served 
first or not is much discussed. I can only say that 
I have never yet seen a "guest of honour" who 
would not have been glad if the hostess had been 
served before her. 

The outline for serving a course, with the addition 
of the suggestions above, holds good until dessert. 
At the end of the course before dessert, the table is 
cleared of everything except the decorations and 
glasses. The carving cloth is lightly folded together 
and carried away. Crumbs are removed and any 
disarrangement restored to order. Then the dessert 
plates, arranged with finger bowl, doily and silver 
are brought from the sideboard. As soon as one 



DINING-ROOM AND PANTRY WORK 67 

is placed before each guest the dessert is served. 
If it is served by the hostess the waitress takes the 
first plate from before the hostess as soon as it is 
ready and replaces it with an extra one which she 
has in her hand. She brings back the one she 
removes from before the guest whom she served and 
places it before the hostess when she removes the one 
filled in her absence. 

The conventional dress for a waitress is a plain 
black frock with white collar and cuffs, a large white 
apron with a bib and shoulder straps, and a small 
cap. At breakfast she usually wears a light-coloured 
cotton frock instead of the black one as this is more 
suitable for the work she does in the morning. Her 
shoes should be comfortable for her own sake, and 
noiseless for the sake of others. The same cleanliness 
and daintiness which are necessary in her work 
should also be hers personally. I cannot believe 
that it is ever very difficult to persuade a girl to this. 
Probably a mistress need only express an interest 
in her waitress's hair, and teeth, and hands, and 
pretty looks and they will soon be well cared for. 
Such interest on the part of the mistress is not merely 
requited with an improvement in the appearance 
of her waitress. A girl who can put a dainty collar 
on herself has taken a long step toward being able 



68 HOUSEKEEPING 

to put a cfainty collar on a chop-bone; if her hands 
are clean and soft, she will not like disgusting dish- 
water or soppy glass-towels any better than her 
mistress does. 

Waiting and elaborate methods of serving meals 
may easily become a nuisance and a burden instead 
of a help and a pleasure. To try for "appearances" 
to which the skill and strength of a waitress or a maid- 
of-all-work are unequal is to produce a worried 
hostess and nervous, wearied guests. A certain 
degree of order, daintiness and formality should 
characterize every meal, but these things do not 
depend upon the number of courses, nor upon the 
presence of a waitress. 

In a household where there is no maid, thoughtful- 
ness beforehand can prevent any getting up from table 
except between courses. All the food and accessories 
for a course must be placed on the table and served 
by some member of the family, and the plates must 
be passed from hand to hand. Sometimes two or 
even three courses can be agreeably put together, 
as when a salad is served with the meat course, or 
fruit and coffee are brought with the dessert. Often 
in this way a dinner can be acceptably served with 
only one or two clearings of the table, which under 
other circumstances would have been five or six 



DINING-ROOM AND PANTRY WORK 69 

courses long. A large tray on the serving table 
upon which the plates and dishes can be put and 
all removed together is a great assistance. Upon 
such a tray, also, everything necessary for a whole 
course can often be brought from the kitchen at 
one trip. The article known as a dinner wagon 
is even better as an assistant than a tray. 

In a small family it makes less confusion if only 
one person does the necessary waiting. A daughter 
rather than a mother should do this, or the person 
who has not done the cooking rather than the 
person who has. In a large family two people 
should do the w aiting, partly for speed, partly because 
it is hard work. There is the further advantage 
that work done by two people is much more cheerful 
than work done by one. I have little patience with 
families in which one sister does all the housework 
for a week or a month, and then another takes it 
for the same length of time. It is well enough to 
divide the work into departments and sometimes 
exchange those, but no sister should rock on the 
veranda while the other washes the dishes alone. 
In the first place it is not economic — two could 
do the work more quickly and then both could rest. 
And besides, what a loss of companionship! The 
most helpful and intimate talks I have ever had 



70 HOUSEKEEPING 

with one of my sisters have been while we were 
washing dishes together. 

In households where there is but one maid, it is 
wise to make her duties as waitress few and simple. 
She is probably not trained for the work, and besides, 
if she has cooked the meal, she is hot and tired just at 
the moment when she should be fresh and alert. 
Under such conditions the waiting is not likely to 
be well and quickly done. If the maid does those 
things which prevent any getting up from table, 
that is really enough for her to do. If, however, 
you wish her to pass plates and vegetables, at least 
serve the sauce on the platter with the fish, have the 
gravy for the meat and the sauce for the pudding 
placed where the server can help them, and depend 
upon those seated at the table to pass the bread, 
butter, pickles and jelly which are before them. 

In clearing the table, the large tray mentioned 
before is an aid which should be allowed to one 
maid. Any piling of dishes as they are removed, 
however carefully done, looks unpleasant; taking 
two plates to the pantry at a time costs many steps. 
The large tray on the serving table is a compromise 
between these alternatives which I have found good. 

Waiting, like table setting cannot become excellent 
unless it is characterized by an almost exaggerated 



DINING-ROOM AND PANTRY WORK 71 

carefulness. Whether the meal is elaborate or 
extremely simple, evidences should never be lacking 
of minute thoughtfulness and of the use of careful 
hands. 

The Pantry. — A pantry is like a tea basket, or 
a handy box, or a ship's cabin. It is a small space 
containing a great variety of useful things. The 
one virtue necessary above all others in such a space 
is orderliness. Without it convenient compactness 
becomes crowded confusion. 

Things not connected with pantry work should 
have a place found for them elsewhere. 

Things most frequently used should be on the 
shelves and in the drawers which require least reach- 
ing and stooping. 

Things of the same kind should be grouped 
together except when this violates the previous 
rule. That is, for the sake of keeping all the platters 
together, it is not necessary to use precious space 
on the most practicable pantry shelf for a platter only 
used at Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

Dish Washing. — Dish washing is such a frequent 
and important part of pantry work that it deserves 
a few words of description, perhaps of praise. 

Dish-washing accessories should be within arms' 
reach as one stands at the sink. They are: a dish- 



72 HOUSEKEEPING 

pan, soap, borax or ammonia, towels — soft ones 
for the fine dishes, coarser ones for the heavier 
dishes — a dish drainer, a sink strainer for scraps. 
To these may be added a mop and a dishcloth if 
you feel you must have these articles, but I wish 
I could convert you to the use instead of a small- 
sized whisk, or a little fibre broom such as is sold 
for cleaning sinks. Broom straws softened by 
warm water will not scratch cut glass and yet are stiff 
enough to use for washing pots. The little broom 
can be scalded and dried through and through on 
the back of the stove. It does not smell, and dish 
washing done with it is as different from dish washing 
done with a cloth, as eating with a fork is different 
from eating with your fingers. 

In a pantry where many dishes are washed a fold- 
ing table is a serviceable accessory to dish washing. 
It can be set up to receive the dried dishes, and 
folded again when no longer needed. 

The list of accessories for dish washing done where 
there is no running water is slightly different. One 
must then have one or two kettles of hot water on 
the fire. The dish drainer must have a tray to stand 
on or be replaced with pans. The sink strainer 
will not be needed. A bowl can be used instead, 
but not a tin receptacle, for scraps of food some- 



DINING-ROOM AND PANTRY WORK 73 

times combine to form acids which eat or discolour 
tin. 

The Preparation. — For the work of dish washing, 
first get yourself ready. Put on an apron, preferably 
one with a bib. If your sleeves are long, either 
turn them back or cover them with half-sleeves 
which button tightly round the wrist. 

Next put away all food. 

Then prepare the dishes. Gather the glass together. 
Empty the tumblers which have contained water, 
but fill with water those which have contained milk. 
Collect the cups and saucers, emptying the cups 
and rinsing out dregs or tea leaves. Scrape the 
plates thoroughly with a spoon, not with a knife, 
and pile each kind together. If there is much 
gravy or sauce upon them, rub them off quickly 
with a discarded crust or a celery stalk. Put the 
silver into a bowl or pitcher and pour water upon it. 
Platters should be scraped like the plates. Fill 
cream pitchers, gravy boats and vegetable dishes 
with water. 

All this preparation is not old-maidishness and 
a waste of time. It saves time, and dishes, and 
disgust. 

The Process. — When the dishes have been made 
ready for washing, pour a generous supply of hot 



74 HOUSEKEEPING 

water into the dishpan. Put into it a little borax, 
or a larger supply if the water is hard. Lay in two 
or three glasses. They should be put in edge first, 
wet inside and out at the same moment, and not 
laid close enough to touch each other. Take 
them out one at a time and immediately wipe them 
dry and bright. They become streaked if allowed 
to drain. E-eplace those taken out with others to 
be washed. Set the wiped glasses in a space pre- 
pared for them on a shelf or table, or if there 
is little room in the pantry put them on a tray which 
can be carried at once to the cupboard. After the 
glasses, wash and wipe any other glass which is 
not greasy, but leave anything which is until after 
soap has been put into the water. 

Neither the glass nor any of the dishes should 
be touched with one's bare hand after it is lifted 
from the water, but should be held always with the 
cloth, wiped and polished with the cloth and set 
down at last with a hand still covered. 

When the glass is finished, put soap into the 
water with the aid of a soap shaker or any other 
contrivance which prevents the soap from lying in 
the water or from being stuck on a fork. Make 
good suds, but not strong suds, for this injures colour 
and gilding. 



DINING-ROOM AND PANTRY WORK 75 

Dishes are usually washed in the order of greasiness, 
therefore the cups and saucers come next after the 
glass and after these any plates which are but slightly 
soiled. These cleaner dishes often need no rubbing 
with cloth or brush, but can be lifted out of the water 
and placed in a drainer or pan, the cups on their 
sides, the plates on edge. Rubbing, however gentle, 
at last wears off decoration. Dishes must never 
lie soaking in the dish-water because this also 
injures their decorations. A few of the same kind 
should be put in the water at a time, washed and 
immediately removed. This is the chief preventive 
of chipping and breaking, and it also allows room 
enough in the water for thorough washing. 

The silver is the next thing to wash. If the water 
has cooled by this time it should be changed, or if 
one has to be economical, it can be partially changed 
and more soap added. Usually the flat silver can 
all be put into the water at once, then washed a few 
pieces at a time and laid carefully in a drainer or 
pan. Some housewives prefer to wipe the silver, 
like the glasses, immediately from the dish-water, 
but as it has to be washed with soap, there is a good 
reason for rinsing it. Larger pieces of silver must 
be put in like the dishes, a piece or two at a time, 
to prevent dents and scratches. 



76 HOUSEKEEPING 

Next wash plates, never allowing small ones and 
large ones in the water together, then platters, 
vegetable dishes, milk pitchers, salad bowl and gravy 
boat, putting not more than one or two in the water 
at a time. 

As often as dishwater becomes cool or greasy, 
change it. This is a fixed rule for those who have 
an ample water supply. If however, it is necessary 
to be extremely economical with water, it is better 
to stint the dishwater than the rinsing water. 

There are two extreme ways of rinsing dishes 
and a middle way. One of the extremes is to 
immerse the dishes in a pan of hot water and wipe 
them therefrom. This is indeed cleanly but it 
takes much water and many towels. The other 
extreme is to arrange them in a drainer and either 
pour scalding water over them or immerse them 
for a moment in scalding water and then leave 
them to dry by their own heat which they do almost 
instantly. A zealous housewife finds it hard to 
believe that this is as good as wiping, but the smooth, 
shining dishes which result from it convince her. 

The middle way is to set the dishes in a drainer 
and pour scalding water over them as in the other 
case, but this time to complete the work by wiping 
each piece. They are so nearly dry that the wiping 



DINING-ROOM AND PANTRY WORK 77 

is but a small act, often little more than a keen inspec- 
tion and a rub for good measure. 

Delicate china must not be rinsed with extremely 
hot water as a sudden change of temperature some- 
times breaks it as it does glass. 

The rinsing method first described is best for 
silver for it should be thoroughly rinsed in very 
hot water and dried with a cloth and vigorous 
rubbing. Any evaporating process leaves it dull and 
spotted. As one wipes it, any piece discoloured 
or dull should be laid aside for special attention. 
Egg stains can be removed with a little salt, or often 
just with rubbing them with a cloth which has been 
used to apply silver polish. If one has no covered 
shelf or table on which the silver can be laid as it 
is wiped, it is well to spread a towel to receive it. 
This saves noise and scratching. 

Carafes, decanters, vinegar cruets or any narrow 
necked articles can be cleaned with chopped white 
potato, or with crushed egg shells. A combination 
of crushed egg shells, \ cup of salt and § cup of 
vinegar is also good for this purpose. A slim paint 
brush — the kind used to paint window casings, not 
pictures — is excellent for washing bottles. The 
brush end will do the washing and the handle end 
with a towel over it will do the wiping. There are 



78 HOUSEKEEPING 

regular bottle brushes but I have found a paint 
brush better than any one I have yet tried. 

Steel knives, whether plated or not, need special 
care. They should never, never be laid in water 
but held in the dish washer's hands while they are 
washed, then wiped perfectly dry. If they are 
silver plated they are polished like the rest of the 
silver except that they are wet as little as possible. 
If not plated they must be scoured as often as used. 
This helps to keep them sharp as well as bright. 
Rest the blades flat on a board when cleaning them, 
otherwise they may be bent or even broken. After 
they have been scoured, they must be washed with 
the same care as before and dried thoroughly. 
Avoid anything, whether hot water or excessive 
friction, which greatly heats the blades, for this 
breaks the handles by expanding the steel pieces 
which run up into them. 

Discoloured knife handles will sometimes whiten 
if scoured with a piece of lemon dipped in salt and 
washed off quickly with hot soapsuds. Powdered 
pumice also whitens them. 

After the dishes are washed and wiped, all the 
cloths and brushes used should be thoroughly 
washed in hot suds, then carefully rinsed. If they 
can be hung out in the sun. that is best, but if not, 



dining-roo:m and pantry work 79 

they should be hung where they will dry before 
they are needed again. One may not be able to 
spare time to wash or even rinse the towels after 
every dish washing, but they must positively be 
washed once a day. Sticky and unpleasant-smelling 
table appointments quickly result from neglected 
towels and dishcloths. 

And what can be said in praise of dish washing.^ 
Well, it is making things clean and there is always 
satisfaction in that; it is a sign that one more thing 
is finished and there is satisfaction in that, even though 
another begins at once; and, personally I like 
dish washing because it is work that after a little 
practice can be done almost entirely with hands and 
eyes, and so the time it takes may be a rest time, or 
a thought time, or a prayer time as one wills it. 

Silver Cleaning. — Some people say silver must 
be cleaned once a week, others once a fortnight, 
others contend that once a month is enough. A 
general rule cannot be made, however, for a thing 
which depends entirely on particular climate, par- 
ticular light and heating apparatus and particular 
standards of care and orderliness. One can only 
say polish it as often as it needs polishing and not 
oftener. 

Those silver polishes which are intended to be 



80 HOUSEKEEPING 

rubbed on the articles and then removed with very 
hot water are the more desirable. A silver polish 
which is hard on hands is to be avoided, not merely 
for the hands' sake but for the silver's. 

To clean silver, one requires a soft cloth and a 
soft hair brush for applying the polish; also several 
other soft cloths, a piece of chamois skin and a 
clean, soft brush for polishing. 

Rub the polish on smooth surfaces with a soft 
cloth, on filigree or engraving with a soft brush. 
Wash in very hot water, wipe with soft cloths, 
polish with chamois skin and a soft brush. Never 
touch the silver with bare hands after it comes out 
of the hot water. To wear a pair of chamois gloves 
while doing this work is an excellent help and pro- 
tection. 

If silver not constantly in use is kept in canton- 
flannel bags in a box where there is a piece of gum 
camphor, it will be as bright when it is taken out 
as it was when it was put in. The bags are better 
than tissue paper, for this sometimes contains 
chemicals which discolour the silver. New silver 
usually comes in such bags, but the time and money 
necessary for making bags for older pieces, are saved 
again and again by the unaided care they take of 
the silver committed to them. White canton flannel 



DINING-ROOM AND PANTRY WORK 81 

is not good for this purpose, it soils easily and the 
chemicals used for bleaching it discolour silver. 

There remains but to say that ideal dining room 
and pantry work combine military order with a 
daintiness which puts pansies into finger bowls. 
That simple loveliness and devoted thoughtfulness 
are more necessary in table service than heavy 
damask and beautiful china. And that, above all, 
one must not think that care and work expended 
upon meals are put to a poor use. Family meals 
are deeply hallowed by long custom and by sacred 
associations. We shall not be wrong to try earnestly 
and gladly to make the meal hours times of loveliness 
and thankfulness and laughter. 



IX 

THE KITCHEN 
(a.) FURNISHINGS 

KITCHENS have shrunk in size since the days 
of our grandmothers, not so much because we 
• know more than our grandmothers as because 
conditions of living have changed. Kitchens are no 
longer used to store winter supplies which must be 
kept from the cold, nor are they now used for laundry 
and dairy work, spinning and sociability. A house 
in which there are many workers, in which there is 
bountiful providing and constant hospitality, still 
needs a large kitchen; on the contrary, an apart- 
ment in which the dining room will barely permit 
six at table may well have a kitchen in which every- 
thing is within hand's reach. 

Many of us have no opportunity to choose whether 
our kitchens shall be large or small. In building 
a new house, however, the opportunity sometimes 
presents itself, and some of the things to consider 

in making the choice are the number of people who 

Hi 



THE KITCHEN 83 

are to work in the kitchen, the size and elaborateness 
of the meals to be prepared there, whether there 
is to be also a pantry and a store room, whether 
the laundry work is done in the kitchen and whether 
the servant or servants have any other place to sit. 
In regard to these two latter considerations, it may 
be safely said that a small kitchen and a small 
laundry are almost invariably better than a large 
room for both purposes; and that a tiny kitchen and 
a tiny servants' sitting room are better both for 
health and comfort than a combination. If it is 
possible, the kitchen should be used only for cooking, 
and should contain only such things as are needed 
for that work. 

As a kitchen is a place where especial cleanliness 
is necessary, soap and water should be no enemy 
to its contents. Probably a room lined with glazed 
tiles is the best kitchen, but as yet these are rare. 

Walls and Woodwork. — Hard-finish plaster 
painted some light colour and given a final coating 
of enamel paint is a satisfactory but somewhat 
expensive finish for kitchen walls. 

There are several kinds of wall covering of the 
nature of oilcloth which look rather like tiles and 
may be wiped with water. They are not so good as a 
finish which becomes part of the substance of the wall. 



84 HOUSEKEEPING 

Oil and varnish rubbed into plaster walls make 
them light yellow in colour, protect them from being 
discoloured with steam, and produce a surface which 
may be frequently washed. A coating of oil followed 
by a coating of shellac has much the same result. 

Old, rough walls are better covered with a light- 
coloured, very inexpensive paper. If this is coated 
with shellac the walls may be wiped with a damp 
mop. Otherwise the paper should be changed 
frequently. This is the reason it should be inex- 
pensive. It is well always to get a little more kitchen 
paper than is needed, that when necessity arises 
badly soiled pieces may be stripped from the walls 
and new ones fitted into their places. 

I once had a whitewashed kitchen and liked it, 
but it might have looked odd had it opened on a 
fire-escape instead of the wood-pile. 

Two things are chiefly desirable in the finish of 
kitchen walls and woodwork; it ought not to be 
hurt by soap and water and it ought to be light 
coloured. The room is frequently filled with smoke 
or steam which contains some greasiness; this 
can only be removed from the walls and ceiling by 
washing them. People have been known to paint 
kitchens a dark colour with the idea that they showed 
dirt less. Dirt should show. Then there is a better 



THE KITCHEN 85 

chance that it will be removed. Light colours are 
needed in the kitchen also to prevent dark corners, 
and to increase the light from the windows. Much 
sun is a disadvantage to a kitchen; much light is a 
great advantage. A yellow kitchen cheers my soul, 
but many housewives like blue or green better. If 
you do your own work, by all means have the 
kitchen the light colour most becoming to you, and 
get your frocks to match; it's a great help. 

Floors. — The kitchen floor is a greater problem 
than kitchen walls. Even tiles have one disadvan- 
tage, they are cold to stand on. There are a variety 
of substances resembling mosaic or tiling in appear- 
ance which are put down somewhat like cement 
or concrete. They are without cracks and easily 
mopped, but have the same disadvantage of being 
hard and cold. 

A hardwood floor such as one might have in other 
rooms is easily spotted and injured with the things 
which are rather likely to be spilled or set upon it. 
This is true also of a painted floor, with the added 
objection that heels and chair-legs quickly mar 
painted wood. 

Linoleum is easily cared for and with reasonable 
usage lasts well. Oilcloth is less expensive than 
linoleum but is in no way so good. Neither of 



86 HOUSEKEEPING 

these floor coverings, nor paint, should be washed 
with very hot water or with any strong or gritty 
cleaning substance, nor should they be scrubbed 
with a stiff brush. Such treatment breaks and 
spoils glossy surfaces. Wash them with a cloth 
wrung out of mild luke-warm suds. Wipe them 
dry, otherwise they will be streaked. 

When linoleum begins to show wear a coat of 
spar- varnish or carriage varnish will restore it satis- 
factorily. These varnishes are not injured by water, 
and they dry quickly. A floor varnished at night 
in dry weather may be walked on as much as neces- 
sity requires the next day. It is better in such a case 
to lay down papers to walk on, and move them often 
to prevent sticking. 

Sheets of newspaper or brown paper should be 
laid all over a floor before linoleum is put down, 
otherwise it is almost impossible to get it off the 
floor when it is worn out. 

I wish to copy here a suggestion for finishing a 
kitchen floor, for which I would gladly acknowledge 
my indebtedness, but I have merely the paragraph 
signed G. D. which has been cut from some paper. 

Plain, boiled linseed oil is a good finish for the kitchen floor. It 
should be put on when the floor is new or clean of other finish, and 
applied as needed afterward. Such a floor will have a pleasing, 



THE KITCHEN 87 

light-brown colour, will not show marks or scratches, and, kept well 
oiled, will not spot with grease. Heat the oil and apply at night, 
rubbing it in well. In the morning wipe A^ath cold water, and the 
floor is ready for use. Wash it with warm water dashed with a little 
kerosene. G. d. 

Just a plain floor is a convenient kitchen floor 
on all days except on those when it must be scrubbed. 
Such scrubbing is hard, dirty work and takes a good 
deal of time. And I know of no alleviation; one 
must down on one's knees and go at it with a scrub- 
bing brush or it will look all the time as if it needed 
scrubbing. 

Rugs. — Rugs are needed in the kitchen wherever 
much continued standing is done, as in front of the 
sink and the range or beside the table. They prevent 
linoleum or oilcloth from becoming worn in one or 
two spots, they are sometimes needed for warmth, 
and they are always needed to spare the feet and 
back of the person who does the kitchen work. 
It makes as much difference whether one stands 
for hours on a soft thing or a hard one, as it does 
whether one sleeps for hours on a board or a mattress. 
It is as well if kitchen rugs are of so little value that 
they may frequently be thrown away without regret. 
A good doormat too shabby to put before the front 
door is a treasure to lay before the washtubs. 

The sink. — If the kitchen sink is under or beside 



88 HOUSEKEEPING 

a window, the pots and pans will more surely be clean, 
and the dish washer will not have the irritation of 
working in her own light. Sinks are apt to be set 
too low. For comfort and for health the rim should 
be about even with the dish washer's waist. It 
is convenient to have draining boards on both sides 
of the sink, but by no means always possible. 

Whatever material the sink is made of it will need 
careful cleaning once every day with scouring soap 
or soap-powder and a scrubbing brush. This is not 
only good for the sink but for the waste pipes, espec- 
ially if a pan of hot soapy water is prepared for the 
scouring and emptied down the pipes when the sink 
is finished. This will do much toward keeping the 
pipes from becoming grease clogged. Porcelain or 
enamelled sinks are, of course, more easily kept clean 
than iron or tin ones. 

Tables. — In a kitchen where there is no sink, 
the substitute should be a steady table placed as far 
from the stove as possible. If a definite place is 
appointed for dish washing even to the choice 
between two ends of a table, the appliances needed 
can be hung within reach, and one will naturally 
pile soiled dishes in that place and go there to wash 
them without taking thought about it. 

Besides this table another will be needed on which 



THE KITCHEN 89 

cake and bread can be made, or food can be set with- 
out fear of contact with soiled dishes or dishwater. 
This table is equally necessary in kitchens where 
there is a sink. Sometimes in small kitchens its 
place is taken by the shelf of a dresser, the tops of 
the tubs or a board which, when not in use, folds 
down beside the wall or the dresser. The point is 
to have some place other than the draining boards 
where food can be prepared. 

You will read in magazines that it is lovely to 
have kitchen tables covered with white oilcloth. Un- 
fortunately the statement is not always followed by 
its complement, namely, that such a covering must 
be protected from being scorched and cut by means 
of pot boards, asbestos mats or folded newspapers. 
Several practical cooks and housekeepers have told 
me that there is nothing so good in the kitchen as 
a zinc-covered table. It is not pretty but one need 
never spare it any usage, and at rest times its 
ugliness may be covered with a cloth. Spots on 
zinc which will not yield to soap and water can 
sometimes be removed with vinegar. 

Plain wooden tables are hard to keep in satisfactory 
order. They are easily scorched, easily stained, 
and they require daily scrubbing. 

A pretty kitchen is a pride and delight, but the 



90 HOUSEKEEPING 

serviceableness and practicability of its furnishings 
must be the first consideration in selecting them. 
Things which have to be constantly remembered 
and guarded take too much thought and strength to 
be in place in a workshop. A kitchen should be 
bright, orderly and noticeably clean, but I think 
the less it looks like a sitting room the better. Wher- 
ever it is possible, maids should have some other 
place to sit. 

Chairs. — For much of the kitchen work a woman 
needs the reach, muscular leverage and alertness 
which she gets from standing. There are, however, 
some things such as preparing fruit and vegetables, 
stoning raisins and beating eggs which she can do 
as well sitting down. If the kitchen is as it should 
be, a workshop, stools are the best seats with which 
to furnish it. They may be scrubbed, they take 
up little room, and they afford an opportunity to 
rest, without an accompanying temptation to loiter. 
"Sittin' back" is in some places an equivalent 
phrase for "inactive." It picturesquely explains 
why people work more alertly sitting on stools than 
in chairs. 

If the kitchen is also the maids' sitting room, 
it must have comfortable chairs in it. But they 
should be made of scruhahle materials, and cushions 



THE KITCHEN 91 

should be covered with wash fabrics. Rocking chairs 
are the w^orst possible kind for a kitchen, they are 
especially irritating to the ankles and temper of the 
cook. 

Shelves. — Shelves are necessary for kitchen com- 
fort. They are for dishes, crockery, utensils which 
can not be hung up and for stores if one has no 
store closet. As it is easier to have things stand 
one deep on shelves, more narrow shelves will be 
needed than wide ones. Some people get along 
with a few shelves for the sake of having them shut 
in with glass doors; others have many shelves like 
open book-cases and keep the pans, dishes, cups 
and bowls turned upside down. Stores have to 
be kept in tightly closed receptacles in either case. 
Most utensils are the better for being kept on open 
shelves or hung on hooks in the light and air. That 
is a rare pot closet which is quite agreeable either 
to eye or nose. 

Shelves painted white, or covered with white oil- 
cloth or white paper, are neat and pleasant to look 
at. Painted ones are probably the least care, they 
have only to be occasionally washed and few things 
injure them. Plain wooden shelves, ought always 
to be covered, as they are easily stained and become 
darkened with dust. 



92 HOUSEKEEPING 

A special shelf or a special place on some shelf 
is needed for receipt books. 

Hooks. — Each utensil which is to be hung up 
should have its own hook. If two or three are hung 
on the same hook, it is difficult to take down the 
undermost article. Rows of hooks should be so 
arranged that the hooks alternate instead of coming 
directly under each other. Pots and kettles which 
are hung up should be turned bottom outward as 
this protects the insides from dust. The lids of 
pots and kettles may be easily hung up on a 
string stretched tightly across the inside of a 
closet door, or against the wall between two 
hooks. The handles rest on the string and hold 
the lids up. 

Either a roller for a hand towel or a hook on which 
one can be hung is a necessary fixture in the kitchen, 
for a cook needs to wash her hands many times a 
day. 

Curtains. — Shades are necessary to modify the 
light and to draw at night, but the case seems to be 
against curtains in the kitchen, even against sash 
curtains. There should be nothing at the windows 
to intercept light and free currents of air, and nothing 
in the room anywhere which catches dust and smoke 
as curtains do. 



THE KITCHEN 93 

Light Fixtures. — Light fixtures are better over- 
head. An additional side light by the sink, or near 
both sink and range when possible is a valuable 
convenience. 

Clock. — A good clock should be part of the kitchen 
furniture for the sake of punctuality. An alarm 
attachment which can be turned off before it has 
run completely down is a help to a cook's over- 
burdened memory. If it is set for the time when 
the eggs will be boiled, or the bread or a cake 
must be looked at, or the meat will be roasted, 
there will then be one less thing to remember and 
absence from the kitchen will not so invariably cause 
disaster. 

An Ornament. — If you or the cook would like 
an ornament in the kitchen, the delightful thing 
to have is a copy of a Delia Robbia terra-cotta. 
Bright coloured and washable, like the rest of the 
kitchen! You will laugh perhaps at the idea of 
carrying the matter of brightness and cleanliness 
so far, but do you not know how dingy and depressing 
the kitchens of otherwise clean and lovely houses 
often are.? It is because things which might be 
cheerful coloured are dull coloured, and because 
many things are half soiled for the reason that they 
cannot be easily washed. Sometimes too, it is 



94 HOUSEKEEPING 

because nobody cares whether the kitchen is pleasant 
or not. 

(6.) UTENSILS 

The number and size of kitchen utensils depend 
upon the space in which they must be kept and the 
number of persons in the household. Their quality 
and, to some extent, their number depend on what 
we are able to pay for them. 

If the space for keeping utensils is small, their 
number must be kept down to the minimum. Even 
with ample space, it is well now and then to weed 
out superfluous or inadequate utensils, for each adds 
a straw's weight to the work of the kitchen. It is 
only a straw, but you know what happened to the 
camel. 

One woman who entertains a large family at Thanks- 
giving and Christmas, and at other times has a house- 
hold of two with an intermittent maid, buys each 
year at the five and ten cent store the large utensils 
and serving dishes needed for the Thanksgiving 
dinner. She keeps them until after the Christmas 
dinner, then gives them away and returns to her 
usual outfit of small things. Perhaps you ask, 
why not use the big ones all the time instead of 
having two sizes .^ Because they take more time. 



THE KITCHEN 95 

more food, and in the case of the serving dishes, 
make a poor appearance. A household which con- 
stantly changes in number needs two sizes, one 
small and one large, of each thing in frequent use. 
Of certain things there should be two or three in 
any kitchen; such are, bowls, mixing spoons, 
platters, paring knives, saucepans and double 
boilers. It is well to get such things of different 
kinds and of graduated sizes because they are for 
various uses. 

Materials. — The kitchen is prettier if all the utensils 
are of the same colour and in general of the same 
material. Expense and practical usefulness, how- 
ever, must be considered before good looks. If 
the kitchen is blue, do not buy a bowl with a pink 
band round it, a cake turner with a red handle and 
a brown agate pot, when you can perfectly well 
get them in suitable colours. On the contrary, if 
the brown pot is a more convenient shape and size 
than a blue or white one, get the brown one; if a 
thick iron frying pan cooks food better than a white 
agate one, take the iron one. 

Enamelled utensils are neat, pretty, seldom acted 
upon by chemicals in the food and are cared for 
more easily than those of any other material. They 
are expensive, but last well if they are not abused. 



96 HOUSEKEEPING 

Tin articles are light to handle and cheap, but 
soon become discoloured and require a good deal 
of scouring to keep them in fair condition. 

Iron utensils are heavy, hard to keep clean and 
rarely necessary. 

Pots and pans are now frequently made of 
aluminum. It is a luxury to lift them and they 
are pretty, but they are also costly and easily 
injured. 

Copper utensils have become rare; their chief 
recommendation is beauty. A College kitchen in 
Oxford glowing with rows and rows of copper platters 
and dish covers and pots and kettles remains in 
my memory as a glory and a splendour. But, my 
stars! what generations of scourers have toiled to 
see their crooked images appear in those red-gold 
surfaces ! 

Copper articles have a disadvantage beyond 
requiring much care. If used for food they should 
be tin lined and the lining kept in good condition, 
for sometimes chemicals in food form a poisonous 
combination with the copper. Our ancestors did 
not have to worry about copper pots. When they 
were poisoned, they drowned a witch or went on 
a pilgrimage, and recovered or not according to their 
constitutions. 



THE KITCHEN 97 

Wooden conveniences for the kitchen, such as 
rolling pins and pastry boards are also gradually 
giving place to those made of other materials, for 
the reason that they are less cleanly and less cool 
than articles made of glass or metal. 

Selection. — The cook's personal preferences should 
be considered whenever kitchen utensils are bought. 
Many housewives consult their cooks before pur- 
chasing new articles. I know one who sends the 
cook to the shop to do the purchasing. That such 
thoughtfulness and care are not always exercised is 
evidenced by the fact that some excellent cooks own 
a number of cooking utensils themselves because 
they do not find them in the kitchens in which they 
work, and can seldom persuade their mistresses to 
buy them. 

The most satisfactory way to get a kitchen outfit 
is to buy a few things at a time. They will in this 
way be more carefully selected, the expense will 
not fall heavily on one week or on one month or even 
on one year, and there will be things new and old. 
To have all new things is only a little less incon- 
venient than to have all old things. 

To give a list of appliances most necessary for 
the kitchen is to make every one who reads it 
wish to improve it. That may be a good reason 



98 



HOUSEKEEPING 



for giving it. Be that as it may, here is such 
a list: 



A teakettle 


A few spoons of different sizes 


A dishpan 
A frying pan 
A coffee pot 


A few plates, cups and saucers 
A cake box 
A bread box 


A tea pot 


Tin boxes or 


A broiler 


Glass jars for flour, meal, sugar. 


A colander 


coffee, etc. 


A meat chopper 
A pail 


A scrubbing brush 
A sink strainer 


A pastry board 

A rolling pin 

3 mixing bowls 

A meat pan 

A pudding dish 

A bread board 

A bread knife 

2 and 3 qt. saucepans 

2 and 3 qt. double boilers 


A soap shaker 

A holder for scouring soap 

A whisk for dish washing 

A pin cushion which can be hung up 

A memorandum pad which can 

be hung up 
3 pie plates 
2 jelly moulds 
An apple corer 


A cake tin 


A few knives and forks 


3 tins for layer cake 
3 bread tins 
A cake turner 


A large wooden spoon 
A large agate spoon 
A knife for potatoes 


A can opener 

A lemon squeezer 

A corkscrew 

A fine-wire strainer 


A large tray 
A salt box 
A pepper box 
A flour dredger 


A potato masher 


1 doz. dish towels 


An egg beater 


6 scrub cloths 


A nutmeg grater 

A graduated quart measure 

A graduated pint measure 


2 pudding cloths 

6 cloths for pots and pans 

Scissors 



Does it seem a very long list ? You would not 
cook one day in a kitchen fitted with these things 
without thinking of something else you would like 
to have. This is an austere list. It contains none 



THE KITCHEN 99 

of the luxuries which one's heart desires, such as 
tongs for hulling strawberries. 

Care. — Pots and pans require thorough washing 
and wiping. Wash them with a brush, good hot 
soapsuds, and occasional applications of a scouring 
soap. Wipe them with squares of cheese cloth or 
old flour and sugar bags washed and hemmed for 
the purpose. These cloths are better than finer 
or heavier ones for they take up water quickly and 
are no great loss if they are darkened by tin or iron 
utensils. The dishcloth is the poorest thing with 
which to wipe pots and pans, for it cannot possibly 
be free from soap and grease. 

Scouring soap is not intended for direct application. 
A brush or cloth should first be rubbed on the soap, 
then on the article to be scoured. 

Only utensils made of iron may be scraped. Such 
treatment quickly defaces and wears out other sub- 
stances. Scraping may be entirely avoided if every 
utensil is filled with water as soon as it is no longer 
needed in cooking. Very greasy things should be 
filled with w^arm water and kept warm. If a pot 
has been burned put a tablespoonful of washing-soda 
into it and fill it with water. Set it away for a day 
or a night, or for both, and at the end of the time 
no scraping will be necessary to get it clean. This 



100 HOUSEKEEPING 

must not be done if the pot is made of aluminum 
in that case, soak the pot without soda. 

Stains may usually be removed from aluminum 
pots with silver-soap. Whitening such pots with 
acids is not a very wise thing to do. The better 
way is to reserve them for delicate uses, they will 
then not become seriously discoloured. 

Do not wash articles made of wood in water in which 
other things have been washed, for wood absorbs 
grease. Nor is it well to scour them with a brush 
or a soap coarse enough to roughen their surfaces. 

Iron pots and pans cannot be scrubbed too vigor- 
ously. Scrub the frying pan until the inside feels 
like wet, black satin; it is then truly clean. Both 
powdered pumice-stone and salt are good for scouring 
iron or tin articles which are smoked or stained. 

Unless precautions are taken, food fried or baked 
in new pans will stick to them, and will not brown. 
A new iron frying pan should be scrubbed hard with 
soap and sand or ashes, and should then have water 
boiled in it. New cake and bread tins should be 
scoured, greased and baked. 

If you find that the kettle is becoming encrusted 
with lime from the water, boil vinegar in it. This 
quickly removes the encrustation if it has not been 
allowed to grow thick before the attempt is made. 



THE KITCHEN 101 

A careful housewife does not wash coffee pots 
and tea pots in dish water. She empties them, 
rinses them, scours them a little if they need it, 
rinses them again, scalds them and finally wipes them 
dry. 

The care of some kitchen contrivances begins 
before they are bought. That is, when buying such 
articles as potato mashers, egg beaters and their like, 
notice whether they have intricacies which will be 
hard to keep clean. Do not be dazzled by the 
marvellous mashing or beating performed by a 
demonstrator, but take the thing in your own hand 
and see whether it is smooth and simple, and whether 
there is a way in which it can be easily washed. 

It can be said of kitchen dish washing even more 
emphatically than of pantry dish washing, that 
going into it up to one's neck is no virtue; better 
keep out of it as much as possible. To make the 
work easy, to divest it of disgust, and even to find 
satisfaction in doing it, are evidences of skill and 
cleverness. 

If one does not take the satisfaction in making 
things clean previously referred to, or if one has not 
pleasant thoughts to think while w^ashing pots, then 
one may pass the time like a rhythmic black mammie 
and croon and croon a tune which has no end. 



THE CELLAR, FIRES, PLUMBING, ETC. 

IT IS more healthful to have a cellar — a clean 
cellar — under a house than not to have one. 
And why ? 

Soil has air in it. Sometimes it is good air, some- 
times bad air. The soil newly turned up in the 
fields gives off a fragrance of its own. The earth 
thrown out on the city pavement by a man looking 
for a leak in a drain gives off an odour which makes 
one hurry one's steps. The soil under a house gives 
off vapours and gases in the same way, good or bad 
according to location. Inasmuch as we cannot 
watch the air under the house as we can that in a 
room and would not always know its quality if we 
could, it has been found better to dig out a chamber 
under the house and line it with stones or cement, or 
even leave it just a hole in the earth into which air 
can be admitted. For this allows a circulation of 
upper air under the house which is safer to have there 
than air from the soil. 

The more we can shut out the breath of the soil in 

102 



THE CELLAR, FIRES, PLUMBING, ETC. 103 

towns and cities the better, for such soil is full of 
drains and gas pipes, and the dirt of streets and 
crowded houses, and sometimes has buried in it cess- 
pools and leaking sewers. Unpleasant to think of? 
Yes, but the thought does very well as a spur to make 
one keep the cellar clean and dry. 

A cellar sealed with cement is the best kind, 
because the soil-air is shut out unless there comes a 
crack in the cement. Walls of stone laid in cement 
are good but not so good, and brick walls are not 
nearly so good. Stones are a little porous and 
bricks very porous. Sooner or later moisture comes 
through either. In the country one often sees 
cellars with hard earth floors and they are fairly 
sanitary as long as the soil surrounding the house is 
used only for cleanly purposes. But before plumb- 
ing is put into the house or a sewer into the neigh- 
bourhood the cellar should be cemented. 

I have seen cellar windows which would not open. 
They ought to open easily and one at least should 
be opened for a while every day that it is not snowing 
or raining. They ought also, to be kept as clean as 
other windows are, for light is necessary to the health- 
fulness of the cellar. Have the window openings cov- 
ered with wire netting, strong enough on the one hand 
and fine enough on the other to exclude cats and flies. 



104 HOUSEKEEPING 

Every cellar without any exception whatever 
should be white. White! 

They may be painted white or whitewashed white. 
There are also substances of the nature of calcimine 
which are somewhat crystalline, and are therefore 
especially good for whitening dark cellars. 

Whitewash is often decried because it rubs off 
upon things which touch it and also because flakes 
of it fall upon the floor and into uncovered receptacles. 
If a little size or thin glue is put into whitewash its 
objectionableness in these ways is much lessened, 
and comes to weigh little against its excellent recom- 
mendations; it is purifying, it destroys the eggs of 
insects, it is inexpensive and it requires no special 
skill to apply it. There are a few words on this last 
point in the chapter on housecleaning. 

Whatever is done to the cellar walls should be 
done over again once or twice a year. There is 
much dust, much dampness and much need for more 
cleanliness even in the cleanest cellars. 

It is more convenient if the cellar is divided into 
rooms, that food and stores of various kinds may be 
kept separate from the furnace and the fuel. If 
this is not possible, the next best thing is to 
have the coalbin enclosed, for the coal makes 
the worst of the cellar dirt. There should be a 



THE CELLAR, FIRES, PLUMBING, ETC. 105 

window in the coalbin through which the coal can 
be put in. 

One needs shelves in the cellar and receptacles 
for vegetables. The shelves are better fastened to 
supports attached to the ceiling than put against the 
walls. There are then no cracks and corners, for 
dust, and the shelves are removed from the possible 
dampness of the wall. Some people advocate the 
building of bins for vegetables. This is probably 
advisable if one must store many. For keeping only 
a few, neat boxes or baskets which may be moved 
about, are better. If one keeps food in the cellar, a 
cupboard or safe made of wire netting is a con- 
venience. It should stand on legs which raise it 
two or three feet off the floor. If preserves and 
jellies are kept in the cellar, it is desirable to have a 
cupboard more completely enclosed than the safe, 
to protect them from dust, quick changes of tem- 
perature and dampness. 

Shelves, cupboards, bins and partitions should be 
as white as the walls. 

The housewife pays a visit to the cellar now and 
then with no errand except to look at it. The sur- 
vey may give her housewifely satisfaction, and it 
may give her something to do or to have done. She 
should go with nose alert and eye keen. 



106 HOUSEKEEPING 

Is there any odour noticeable beyond that slight 
unavoidable cellar smell ? If there is, is it a spoiled 
sweet potato, or clam, or a working jar of canned 
fruit, or — what? Find it; never rest while there 
is an objectionable smell in the cellar. 

Is there a damp spot on walls or floor ? If there 
is the cause must be found and put an end to. If 
there is one near the place where the waste pipes 
leave the house which cannot be accounted for, send 
for a plumber. 

Is there any article out of its place ? Is there any 
pile of things which might be looked over and in part 
thrown away ? Is there any rubbish ? Is the wood 
piled evenly ? Is the coalbin swept up ? Are the 
vegetables in boxes or bins and not on the floor or in 
corners ? Are there cobwebs ? Does the floor need 
sweeping ? Are the windows clean and some of them 
open ? 

If, in spite of everything one can do, the cellar 
smells a little musty, some unslacked lime put in a 
box on the floor will help it. In a cellar with an earth 
floor it is well sometimes to sprinkle lime in the 
corners and in out-of-the-way places where it will 
not be walked upon. 

Things which must stand permanently in the 
cellar are the better for having racks to stand upon. 



THE CELLAR, FIRES, PLUMBING, ETC. 107 

Barrels, ashcans, kerosene cans and cases con- 
taining bottles sometimes ooze moisture, sometimes 
absorb moisture from the floor; their bottoms thus 
become sodden and mouldy. 

Slats nailed on cross-pieces and laid on the floor 
for such things to stand upon, make the cellar and 
its contents more cleanly and more dry. They are 
a contrivance of great use and simply obtained. It 
is, of course, pleasant to have them made by a car- 
penter, but three discarded bedslats nailed on the 
flat sides of some short pieces of floor joist make a 
rack that will hold two barrels, and small racks can 
be made in a few minutes from the boards of a box 
cover nailed on the cleats that have held the box 
together. 

When the cellar floor is swept be sure to use some- 
thing, preferably not water, to lay the dust. This is 
especially necessary when the furnace is in use. 
Dampened sawdust is good for this purpose. 

THE PLUMBING 

Before settling down to live in a place, one should 
know where the water supply comes from, and where 
waste water goes. If the water supply in a city or 
town comes from a far away stream or an artesian 



108 HOUSEKEEPING 

well, and the health of the community is fairly good, 
one may rest content. If, however, the water is 
notably or probably polluted, one should boil or at 
least filter water for drinking and cooking and in 
every way possible safeguard the family health from 
this source of danger. 

A sewerage system which does not carry the waste 
a long distance away from any dwelling is not a very 
good system. If one must depend upon such a 
system it is well to do and say everything possible 
to have it improved. 

If you live in a country place and must depend on 
a surface well for water, you must guard it. Have 
it cleaned at regular intervals; have the cover or 
platform over the mouth such that no creatures can 
get in, nor water or dust fall through; allow no 
rubbish nor waste water to be thrown near it; keep 
it well pumped off and see that pigpens, barnyards, 
poultryyards and closets are as far off as possible. 
The custom of keeping butter or other food cool by 
hanging it down the well is picturesque, but I can think 
of no other recommendation of the practice. Keep 
everything out of the well from frogs to custard pies. 

Certain very simple natural laws have been taken 
advantage of in getting water in and out of houses. 
It is an old axiom that water will not run up hill, and 



THE CELLAR, FIRES, PLUMBING, ETC. 109 

one would not expect it to run up a house, but another 
old axiom saves us from carrying rivers upstairs in 
pails — namely, water seeks its level. 

If water is poured into a U-shaped tube, it will 
stand just as high in one side of the U as in the 
other, will it not? Wlien a house is supplied with 
water from a spring on the side of a hill, we have a 
■^rinff big irregular U-tube 

\l l\a] _ like this dotted line. 

'""- ' As even the garret of 

this house is lower than the spring, the water will 
have force when it comes from the pipes, that is, 
it could yet go higher because it has not run as 
far up in the U on the house side, as it is on the 
spring side. Sometimes, as we approach a town, we 
see a water tower on a hill, or a tall iron stand-pipe. 
They are one side of a U in a water system. Water 
is pumped into the tower or the stand-pipe, then 
it runs into the houses of the town through many 
pipes which are the other side of the U. There is a 
library of books one may read about this U per- 
formance — its relation to other laws, its limitations 
and the thousand uses to which it has been put. 
But all there is to the simple, extraordinary fact, can 
be seen in a bent glass tube which you can hold in 
your hand. 



110 HOUSEKEEPING 

The side of the TJ which comes into a town is no 
longer one pipe but many water mains in streets and 
multitudes of little pipes in each house. These last 
are part of the house plumbing. A plan of the house 
with the position of all the pipes indicated should 
be one of the housekeeper's possessions. She may 
not be able to do much about disordered plumbing 
— in fact, she had better not try to do much ; it is 
not a safe direction for amateur effort — but such a 
plan is of use to workmen who come to do jobs in 
the house, and it may keep some zealous husband or 
brother from driving a nail into a gas pipe in an 
effort to hang a picture. 

Water is frequently got out of the house by giving 
it a good start and then letting it run down accord- 
ing to its nature. Waste pipes are as far as possible 
perpendicular, and the start is given the water by 
the weight of a basin or a tubful, or by the sudden 
emptying of the tank of the closet. 

That principle of the IT, however, is used also in 
the disposal of waste water. It is the principle on 
which many traps are constructed. Traps are con- 
trivances for closing the connection between a house 
and the public sewer. If you have an imagination, 
or if you will read Victor Hugo's description of the 
Paris sewers in *'Les Miserables" as a help to 



THE CELLAR, FIRES, PLUMBING, ETC. Ill 

imagination, it will not be necessary to explain why 
this connection should be closed. 

To make a trap with what is known as a water- 
seal, the U pipe is turned into an S fallen forward, ui 

Under the basin in the 
'"W—Z/r^^^^^'-'^'^^^^^^^ bathroom one can see 

the waste pipe and can 
imagine where the water is inside. It flows out of 
the basin into the first loop of the S, rises into and 
flows over the other loop until the basin and pipe are 
emptied as far as a. The water has then no power to 
force itself beyond the loop6,and stays in the first loop, 
forming a water seal between the sewer and the outlet 
of the basin. Through that loop water gases and 
odours cannot come, and across the loop at h, impure 
substances and water cannot force their way back 
from a lower level. 

It is well to rinse a basin, sink or tub after it is 
used, and one must be particular that the closet 
flushes generously, for the water left in the loop 
should be clean water. If one merely allows the 
water from tub or basin to sink through t]\e outlet 
some of that water remains in the loop, and it is water 
which contains impurities washed from clothes or 
bodies. You see the practice of rinsing bathtubs 
and basins has more in it even than courtesy. 



112 HOUSEKEEPING 

Occasionally, clean, hot, strong suds should be 
emptied down basins, tubs, sinks and closets and 
allowed to stand in the loop, as this cleanses the 
pipe from impurities or grease which may have 
adhered to its sides. Disinfectant may be used in 
the same way when it is thought to be needed. Strong 
disinfectant should not be left long in a trap as it may 
eat the joints or even the substance of the pipes. On 
the other hand, in judging the quantity to use, allow- 
ance must be made for the fact that disinfectant 
poured down pipes goes into w^ater, into a good deal 
of water in the case of the closet. 

Two things sometimes make traps ineffectual. 
One is that the loop may not be deep enough. An 

' S like this, for instance, is 
useless. So much water can 




^' h'CUer ieyel flow out that an air passage 
is left at a, and the pipe is 
not sealed. The other thing is that sometimes the 
suction of water rushing down from an upper 
story will draw the water out of the traps it 
passes on the way. Either of these difficulties 
can only be remedied by an alteration in the 
plumbing arrangements. The concern of the house- 
keeper in the matter is not to rest if the waste pipes 
give off the least odour, and to get as reliable a per- 



THE CELLAR, FIRES, PLUMBING, ETC. 113 

son as possible to inspect them. To have good 
plumbing is worth going without much. In truth, 
it is the last thing in which to exercise econ- 
omy. In building a new house, it is better to have 
no rugs, no table-linen, and to leave two rooms 
unfurnished or unbuilt than to put in cheap plumbing. 

Besides the traps under basins, sinks, etc., there 
is usually a trap wherever a drain-pipe runs out of 
the house to the street sewer. This doubles the 
protection. These traps are sometimes outside the 
foundation wall, sometimes in the wall and occa- 
sionally inside the cellar. One should know where 
they are in case anything is the matter with them, 
and also in order that one may not put up a shelf 
for milk, or a bin for potatoes directly over the spot 
where a trap is. 

Drainage systems always have to be ventilated. 
A pipe which extends out of the roof of the house, or 
runs up the side beyond the eaves, or comes up 
from the foundation or the lawn with a hood over 
it, is a ventilator for the drainage. They help to 
make the air pressure right in the pipes and they 
prevent the gathering of foul explosive gases. As 
they are vents for such things, one does not want 
them close to a roof window, nor under a veranda, 
nor anywhere except in the open upper air. 



114 HOUSEKEEPING 

Ashes and Garbage. — To say that only liquid sub- 
stances should be poured down waste-pipes seems 
a needless repetition of what everybody knows, yet 
it is knowledge constantly disregarded and some- 
times forgotten even by careful people. Waste 
substances not suitable for the pipes have to be some- 
what classified. Cities and towns have different 
regulations for the disposal of waste and sometimes 
one is required to do a good deal of sorting in com- 
pliance. There are, however, three general classes 
of waste; ashes, garbage and trash. 

Nothing should be put into ashcans except ashes. 
Garbage is the waste from food, or any substances 
which are wet or subject to decomposition. Trash 
is papers, cans, bottles, egg shells, glass, hair, dust, 
broken objects of all sorts and kindred things. This 
class may have to be subdivided several times for 
the convenience of people who remove it, but the 
three main divisions in house waste are made not 
on account of requirement but for the sake of neat- 
ness and decency. 

For all these things it is preferable to have covered 
cans; for garbage it is necessary. In a house, ash- 
cans will usually be kept in the cellar convenient 
to the furnace. Trash receptacles can be kept 
Vhere also. They should be covered, and large 



THE CELLAR, FIRES, PLUMBING, ETC. 115 

enough to hold the trash without spilling. Garbage 
cans should be kept outside the house if possible. 
Often a little place can be built for them close to 
the back door, enclosed in an area or on a back 
porch. Such an enclosure needs some means of 
ventilation and should be periodically scrubbed, 
then disinfected with chloride of lime or some such 
thing. In flats or apartments, where the garbage can 
must be kept in the kitchen, it is a good plan to wrap 
the garbage in many thicknesses of newspaper and 
put these bundles into the can. When this method 
is employed the can is less unpleasant and less 
difficult to clean. This cleaning is disagreeable 
ist be done or the can will become 
ensive. One is fortunate if such 
»ne out of doors. First rinse the can 
and, if necessary, assist the process 
lewspaper tied on a stick. Pour the 
he ground or through a sink strainer. 
I the can a liberal allowance of hot 
some strong washing powder into it. 
and bottom of the can with an old 
kept for the purpose. Pour out the 
can with clean water and ammonia 
/[//^/i'py^/^^^r^^ — 5efulness again by putting into it the 

sink-strainer or the scraps that you 




116 HOUSEKEEPING 

gather off the ground where the first rinse-water was 
poured. 

The disposal of various forms of house waste in 
country places usually requires more care and atten- 
tion than the same matter in cities and town. One 
gets little outside help, and the customary methods 
are often untidy and unsanitary. 

Water may be poured on grass or flower beds 
or on the ground, if one is careful not to put it in the 
same place with any frequency. Soapy water thrown 
on garden paths will help to keep the weeds from 
growing. Water from an ice-cream freezer is good 
for the same purpose. Wash water, or water carried 
down from bedrooms should never be thrown on a 
vegetable garden. One cannot be sure that the 
earth, and the air, and the rain will take up the impur- 
ities soon enough to keep the vegetables from being 
contaminated. 

Some garbage can be buried; some can be burned. 
A weekly bonfire is an excellent thing in places 
where there is no regular means for disposing of 
waste. Into it can go most of the trash and some 
of the garbage in the shape of vegetable husks and 
parings, and other things not very moist. 

A little care on the part of the housewife will 
make an outdoor closet an entirely sanitary con- 



THE CELLAR, FIRES, PLUMBING, ETC. 117 

venience. It should be made as cleanly as possible 
inside and out by means of paint or calcimine, and 
frequent scrubbing of all its wooden fittings. One 
of these fittings should be a good-sized box with a 
scoop or fire shovel to go with it. This box should 
be kept filled with earth — not ashes — of which a 
liberal quantity should be put down the closet when- 
ever it has been used. An earth closet, as it is called, 
if carefully looked after, is never offensive. No 
waste water should ever be emptied down such a 
closet, and depth should not be obtained by digging 
out the ground under the building, because rain water 
will gather in the depression thus made. The 
interior of the closet should be shallow and earth- 
covered. These two characteristics make frequent 
removals of the contents necessary; this is trouble- 
some but sanitary. 

FIKES 

To make and manage fires one must understand 
them. They are simple and easy to understand, 
but they are also capable of giving a person who is 
unacquainted with their ways great trouble and 
anxiety. 

A Wood Fire. — A wood fire on the hearth is the 
simplest one in a house. Can you make it? One 



118 HOUSEKEEPING 

must have in the first place, a hearth, a flue and a 
draught. The hearth is merely a place in the floor 
laid with stone or brick to put the fire on. A flue 
is a chimney or a part of a chimney over the hearth 
to carry off the smoke and to increase the draught. 
The desperate aborigine who sprang up weeping 
and choking with smoke and chopped a hole in his 
new bark roof, discovered that it not only let out the 
smoke but made the fire burn better. It made a 
draught. The draught is the air that draws up the 
chimney. It is caused chiefly by the fact that warm 
air rises. The air in a room draws up the chimney 
if it is warmer than outside air, and when a fire is 
lighted and the air at the bottom of the chimney 
becomes very hot, it draws up hard and quickly. 
Sometimes when a fire smokes people say, "The 
chimney is cold," that is, the chimney is so cold that 
the hot air ascending becomes chilled and heavy 
before it reaches the top of the chimney, and does 
not draw out hard and quickly enough to make a 
strong draught. So the smoke stays down instead 
of going up, and the fire does not burn well. The 
remedy is to burn as much paper and light, dry wood 
on the hearth as you can until the chimney is warmed 
a little. 

If there are a hearth, a flue and a draught, the next 



THE CELLAR, FIRES, PLUMBING, ETC. 119 

thing to observe is whether there are ashes on the 
hearth from a former fire. If there are a few, brush 
them together into a neat, flat pile under the flue 
and against the back of the chimney. If there are 
many, remove some, but never all unless you do not 
expect to have a fire again for a long time. x\shes 
hold heat. They are soon warmed by the new fire, 
and help to keep the coals hot. Just as a *'cozy" 
keeps heat in a tea pot and a fur coat keeps heat in 
you. 

Place the andirons straight and close enough 
together to support the average length of the wood. 
If one can get a big hea\y piece of wood, that should 
first be put in at the back of the hearth. 

On the bed of ashes between the andirons or on 
the bare hearth put paper crushed into soft balls. 

If the kindling is little sticks, lay the fire by the 
pig-sty method. That is, on the soft paper balls 
lay two little sticks parallel with the andirons, then 
two more little sticks with their ends crossing the 
ends of the first pair, tt keep on doing this, laying 
the sticks first in one direction then in the other until 
the sty is two or three rails high. Then lay two 
larger sticks in an X on the top and the fire is ready 
for lighting. 

If the kindling is blocks and shavings scatter 



120 HOUSEKEEPING 

them loosely over the paper balls, keeping it all in a 
small space but not packing or crushing it together 
in the very least. 

When we light a fire or blow a fire, we do so from 
the bottom because it is the draught sweeping up 
through the fuel which makes it ignite and burn. 
The fuel should therefore be laid loosely with many 
cracks and holes for air. The advantage of mak- 
ing paper into balls is that one cannot pack balls 
closely. 

Light the fire from a light or from another fire 
or with a match. This is the shortest and simplest 
act in fire making, but the most extraordinary. 
It would take some one wiser than three philosophers, 
four scientists and twelve owls to tell you what the 
flame is which springs up on the hearth. A spring- 
ing flame has remained through all time such a 
mystery and wonder, that the poet, the musician 
and the devotee have woven it into rhythm, and 
music, and worship — and what is more, a boy and 
a fox terrier will keep still before it for half an hour. 

When the fire is lighted, first the paper burns 
easily and quickly, then the small pieces of kindling 
light more slowly and burn more slowly, and from 
them the small pieces of wood light yet more slowly 
and burn yet longer, and when they are really burn- 



THE CELLAR, FIRES, PLUMBING, ETC. 121 

ing one may put on the ordinary sticks, leaving 
always cracks between for the air and flames to draw 
through. Three sticks are needed to keep a good 
fire; a heavy one at the back, in front of it a stick 
almost burned through and a fresh one. 

The person who lays the fire, unless she is expert, 
should light it. There is no way of learning how 
to lay it, nor of finding out the peculiarities of the 
fireplace and the fuel, except by seeing how the fire 
acts when it is lighted. 

A Coal Fire. —The coal fire in the kitchen in no 
way differs in principle from the wood fire on the 
hearth. The arrangements for it, though, are 
different. A range or a stove holds the fire instead 
of the hearthstone. The smoke and draught, 
instead of going directly up the flue, are led to it by 
a stove pipe. The draught must get into the stove 
in order to go up through the fire into the chimney. 

The reason that a fire in a stove is more 
diflBcult to understand is that we have several 
contrivances for regulating and utilizing the heat. 
Most of these are called draughts or dampers. 
One knows from the words what they are for; 
the draughts let in draught at the bottom of the 
fire, the dampers in some way damp the ardour 
of the fire. 



122 HOUSEKEEPING 

Stoves or ranges even of the same make are rarely 
exactly alike, but one can learn to manage the 
draughts and dampers in a few minutes' examina- 
tion by keeping in mind the fixed principle that a 
stream of air enters under the fire, flows through 
the fire and passes out through the chimney. That 
to make the fire hot, we do our utmost to remove 
obstructions from the stream; that to deaden the 
fire, we obstruct the stream as much as we can. 
If we want the range hotter, we open a door or slide 
open some slits which will let in air underneath the 
fire, and we open the damper in the stove pipe, that 
is we make as much passage-way for draught through 
the pipe as we can. If we want the range less 
hot, we let in air on top of the fire, and shut the 
pipe damper, that is, the space for the draught to 
go up the pipe is made smaller and air coming 
in on top of the fire meets and checks air coming 
from underneath. 

The terms used in regard to regulating fires are 
confusing. When people say open the draughts, 
they mean let the stream of air flow unobstructed, 
but it is often accomplished by shutting something, 
such as the slits at the top of the fire, and any open- 
ing in the stove pipe. The reverse is also true. 
Shutting the draughts means obstructing the stream 



THE CELLAR, FIRES, PLUMBING, ETC. 123 

of air, and often requires opening places which let 
in air going in a contrary direction to the regular 
draught, such as, openings in the pipe and at the 
top of the fire. This is the reason that it is better 
to get the principle of the draught thoroughly in 
mind and then work the dampers and draughts in 
accord with it, rather than to follow blindly directions 
which may utterly mislead. 

Pipe dampers are sometimes inside the pipe with 
only a little handle outside. Such a damper is a 
circle of iron with a small hole in the middle. When 
the handle is vertical, the circle is vertical and the 
pipe is open. When the handle is horizontal, the 
circle is horizontal, and the pipe closed except for 
the small hole in the circle. 

Besides dampers which regulate the amount of 
heat, there are oven dampers which regulate its 
direction. An oven damper is a contrivance by 
which heat is directed over or under or around the 
oven. When the oven is to be used, the heat is 
directed there; when it is not, the heat is allowed to 
concentrate elsewhere. These oven contrivances 
are not usually visible, and are worked by a handle 
on the outside of the stove. Sometimes directions 
for moving the handle are on it; if not, one must 
experiment to find out what happens. 



124 HOUSEKEEPING 

No one can cook with any certainty until she 
thoroughly understands the stove or range used. 
This is best done by "making it work"; opening 
everything which will open, turning everything which 
will turn, finding out what everything is for, taking 
things apart and putting them together again with 
"'satiable curiosity." If one does this before the 
fire is lighted, and then lights the fire, there will be 
few mysteries left unsolved. 

Though the principles to be remembered in light- 
ing a coal fire in a stove are the same as those which 
govern the lighting of the wood fire on the hearth, 
there are some variations in the process and some 
additional acts to perform. 

If there are ashes in the stove they must be dumped 
and removed. They cannot warm the coals as in 
the hearth fire, and if left under the grate they 
obstruct the draught. The fire maker is fortunate 
if the grate of the stove is so constructed that the 
ashes may be dumped. If this is not the case the 
grate must be shaken until it is empty. That as 
little dust as possible may come out into the 
room, close all the openings in the stove before 
beginning to shake the grate and do not open 
them again until a few minutes after the shaking 
is over. 



THE CELLAR, FIRES, PLUMBING, ETC. 125 

Lay in the grate of the stove a wood fire 
like the one on the hearth: balls of paper, loose 
kindling, larger sticks crossed, and all with 
many cracks betw^een. But in addition sprinkle 
over the top a fire- shovelful of coal. Be generous 
with kindling and wood: it takes strong heat to 
ignite coal. 

Just before lighting the fire see that the stream 
of air is unobstructed ; all the openings at the bottom 
of the fire open, all the openings at the top shut, the 
pipe unobstructed, and the heat directed away 
from the oven. 

Light the fire from below; this is often most 
easily accomplished by crushing up a sheet of news- 
paper, putting it under the grate and lighting it. 
When the sticks are really burning, put on another 
shovelful of coal and as soon as this begins to ignite, 
put on two more. Much coal put on at a time 
smothers the fire. 

In spite of frequent and terrible accidents people 
persist in lighting fires with kerosene. It is more 
sensible never to do it, but if you sometimes do, at 
least do it in a sensible way, that is, soak wood or 
paper in the oil and put it into the grate, then lay the 
fire as usual. Never, never bring the oil can near the 
range at any time or for any purpose. Almost 



126 HOUSEKEEPING 

invariably the use of oil to light the fire is an indica- 
tion of laziness or ignorance. 

It is more economical of time and fuel to 
keep the kitchen fire over than to let it out every 
night. In a good stove, fire which is properly 
raked and cared for can be kept week after 
week, month after month, just as it can be kept 
in a furnace. 

The daily care required by a coal fire is outlined 

below : 

At night, the fire should be thoroughly raked 
and coal enough put on to last until after 
breakfast. Leave the draughts open a few minutes 
until the gas has burned off, then shut them for 
the night. 

The first thing in the morning, open all the 
draughts and get the fire well up. It ought not 
be necessary to put on coal. 

After breakfast, rake the fire thoroughly, put on 
coal and empty the ashes. 

After luncheon put on as much coal as will 
be necessary to produce a good fire at dinner 
time. 

When a hot fire is needed for many hours feed 
it with a few coals at a time; this will not deaden 
the fire and yet will keep it from burning out. A 



THE CELLAR, FIRES, PLUMBING, ETC. 127 

fire which shows red underneath and has a 
few black coals on top is in a healthy condition. 
As soon as all the coals are red the heat begins 
to wane. 

The Furnace Fire. — The ability to run the kitchen 
fire will enable the housewife to tend the furnace 
occasionally. If, however, she wishes to care for it 
regularly, she will need to seek instruction from some 
competent person who can show her the use of the 
particular draughts, gauges, thermometers and other 
indicators by which the fire and the steam or water 
are regulated. 

A skilled person's aim in managing a furnace is 
perfect regularity. Necessary care should be given 
it every day at the same hours, and the fire should 
be kept as far as possible in the same condition. It 
is injurious to the fire and to the furnace to attend 
to it too often or not often enough; and the house 
will never be evenly heated if the fire is first allowed 
to get very low and is then urged to an unusual 
height. 

Stoves, furnaces and chimneys need occasional 
cleaning. Furnaces should be cleaned when the 
fire is let out in the spring, and carefully looked 
over in the fall by a competent man. Ranges which 
are not used in the summer should be treated in the 



128 HOUSEKEEPING 

same way. Other ranges should be cleaned and 
looked over once a year. 

At some time when the kitchen fire is out the 
inside of the stove should be swept, and the dust 
removed through an opening for the purpose in the 
back or side of the stove. 

About once a year all the flues in the house ought 
to be cleaned. This is for two reasons, one, because 
the soot with which they become coated is a non- 
conductor of heat and keeps the chimneys from 
warming quickly; the other, because soot is inflam- 
able. When we say a chimney is on fire, we mean 
that the soot on the inside is burning. It makes a 
terrifying roar, but don't stop to listen to it. Shut 
all the openings in the stove. Throw salt on the 
fire. If there is a fireplace instead of a stove at the 
bottom of the chimney close the opening in some way. 
This may sometimes be done with a rug or a thick 
newspaper held tightly stretched over the opening 
of the chimney. It must cover the whole opening 
and must not be allowed to draw in on the fire. 
The point is to keep the air from rushing up the 
chimney to feed the fire. This is done by shutting 
out the air and by sending up gas from the burning 
salt which is inimical to fire. 

Gas Range. — A gas range is a much simpler 



THE CELLAR, FIRES, PLUMBING, ETC. 129 

matter from a mechanical point of view than one 
in which coal is burned. There is little to do except 
keep it clean. It is lighted as any gas burner is 
lighted, though preferably with a taper instead of 
a match, for in that case your hand is not near enough 
to be burned by the first leap of the flame. Fix 
firmly in mind which one of the little cocks supplies 
each burner, and also that the cocks turn to the left 
to supply the gas, to the right to turn it off. If when 
a burner is lighted, it "burns back" with a roaring 
noise, turn the gas off and wait a moment or two 
before lighting it again. It will then light in the 
usual way. 

The iron sheet under the top burners needs wash- 
ing about once in two days, oftener if anything is 
spilled or boils over into it. More occasionally the 
burners should be washed and the holes all made 
clear with a wire or a broom straw. It does not 
hurt any part of a gas range to wash it; it does it 
good. Some people prefer not to black their ranges. 
The loss in appearance is made up for in the com- 
fort of not having the range rub off black on hands 
or cloths. 

The rack and drip pans for broiling must be 
washed every time they are used; otherwise, the 
grease left on them will smell and smoke and 



130 HOUSEKEEPING 

sometimes catch fire if the oven burners are lighted. 
It is well to rub the grease off the grate and the drip 
pan with a paper while they are still hot, it makes 
them easier to wash. 

Sometimes the fat in this drip-pan catches fire 
while the broiling is yet going on. Usually people 
draw out the pan and blow out the blaze, but this 
is dangerous. Milk poured directly on the flame 
with a big spoon will quench it. 

LIGHT AND WATER 

Watch the bills which come in for light and water. 
If they vary considerably and for no discoverable 
cause, or if they seem unreasonably large, have some 
one come and see if there are leaks, if the metres 
register correctly, and if they have been correctly 
read and the bills made in accordance with the 
readings. 

Light bills naturally increase from June to Decem- 
ber and decrease from December to June. They 
will be larger in a stormy month than in a bright 
one, and in an apartment with dark rooms than in 
one without. Water bills will be larger if the wash- 
ing is done in the house than if it is not. Both light 
and water bills will be somewhat larger if the num- 



THE CELLAR, FIRES, PLUMBING, ETC. 131 

ber of people in the household is increased. These 
things and any other household changes must be 
considered in accounting for variations in light and 
water bills. 

The cost of both these commodities can usually 
be kept within bounds by avoiding waste, such as 
burning a reading light by which no one is reading, 
or five lights in the ceiling, two of which would not 
be missed, or neglecting to turn off range burners 
until five or ten minutes after the cooking is finished, 
or leaving faucets half turned on, or running the 
tub and basin over every time they are used. Some- 
times a reasonable carefulness in such things saves 
the necessity of stricter economy. 

The man who comes to read your gas, water or 
electric metres will usually be willing to teach you 
how to read them, if you ask as if you wanted infor- 
mation and not as if you wanted to catch him in a 
mistake. I might say here that plumbers, carpenters 
and furnace men if approached in the same way often 
prove very instructive. They are human, and 
can rarely resist the treat of giving information when 
the chance is offered to them. One can learn a 
great quantity of useful mechanics from them, besides 
things about their wives and children, both amusing 
and edifying. 



1S2 HOUSEKEEPING 

These are pictures of a gas-metre at the beginning 
and end of a month. 

The hands on the dials move in the directions the 
arrows indicate. Read the number last passed by 
the hand on each dial, beginning with the one farthest 




CUBIC \:::0/ FEET 
iooThousano ioTmousand I Thousand 





CUBIC \:±y FEET 
iooThousano ioThousand i Thousand 




to the left and add two ciphers, x reads 57600; y 
reads 63800. The difference is the amount of gas 
used in the month. 

If you cannot take the two ciphers on faith, there 
is another way of reading the metre. Observe the 
words over each dial. Dial c is in the hundreds mov- 



THE CELLAR, FIRES, PLUMBING, ETC. 133 

ing toward "1 thousand," it therefore reads 600. 
Dial b is in the thousands moving toward " 10 
thousand," and therefore reads 7000. Dial a is in 
the ten thousands moving toward " 100 thousand," 
and therefore reads 50,000. Together they amount 
to 57,600, the number obtained by the other method. 
This is the picture of an electric metre : 




10 AMPERES 100 VOLTS 

lOOOS lOOi 105. IS 





KILOWATT HOURS 

ONE DIVISION OF IS DIAL = I K.W. HOUR 

To read the metre: 

Each hand moves in the direction indicated by 
the arrows. 

Read the figure that the hand has actually passed, 
beginning with the dial to the left. 
755 K W.'s 

Subtract last month's reading from this reading 
and the difference will be the amount consumed. 

Viz: 755 
726 

29 K. W.'s. 

The dials here are a simpler arrangement, as they 



134 HOUSEKEEPING 

merely represent the usual numeration — units, 
tens, hundreds, thousands. 

This metre is in an especially instructive con- 
dition, because the 1,000's dial gives no reading. 
The hand has not yet reached 1. 

THE REFRIGERATOR 

A refrigerator serves its purpose better if it is 
placed in a pantry or on an enclosed porch. If it 
must be put in the kitchen, it should have the place 
farthest from the fire. 

The drain pipe of the refrigerator, which carries 
off the water from the melting ice, sometimes empties 
into a pan, sometimes connects with other pipes 
which carry the water out of the house. It should 
never connect with the other drainage of the house, 
nor lead to any well or sewer which receives other 
drainage. No traps or plumbing contrivances are 
perfect enough to protect food which is shut up 
closely with the opening of a pipe connecting even 
remotely with the drainage system. Properly the 
drain pipe of the refrigerator should empty into an 
open basin or sink in the cellar, which in turn drains 
off into the ground. 

The next point of importance after the disposal 



THE CELLAR, FIRES, PLUMBING, ETC. 135 

of its drainage, is to keep the refrigerator clean. 
Guard against spilling things on its shelves, wash the 
ice before it is put in, if it is not clean, and do not 
keep in it things with a strong or penetrating smell — • 
An innocent dish of cold-slaw unthinkingly put into 
the refrigerator produces an odour which will startle 
the person who next opens the door. 

A refrigerator needs cleaning once or twice a 
week. It should not be cleaned oftener than is 
necessary because cleaning wastes the cold. For 
this same reason wash it with cold water unless 
something greasy has been spilled in it, and never 
leave the doors open one second longer than is 
necessary. 

Collect beforehand everything required for the 
cleaning, that, when the work is once begun, it may 
be finished quickly. One needs cold water in which 
there is baking soda, borax or boracic acid (2 oz. 
to the qt.), a brush for scrubbing, cloths for wiping, 
something long and slim with which to clean the 
drain pipe and a tray or pan to hold the ice while the 
ice compartment is being cleaned. 

Take the food out of the refrigerator, then the ice. 
Quickly but thoroughly scrub and wipe dry the 
compartment for the ice, not forgetting the drain 
pipe. In many refrigerators the drain pipe can be 



136 HOUSEKEEPING 

removed for cleaning. Replace the ice and shut it 
in. Then scrub and wipe the other compartments 
or shelves, and include the pan and the floor under 
the refrigerator in this cleaning. 

It is hardly necessary to say that rubbish and 
unsightly objects ought not to be tucked away behind 
or under the refrigerator. Its surroundings should 
be as clean and well-aired as possible. 

A refrigerator is at its best when it is full of ice. 
To keep it full is usually found economical as well 
as sanitary. If the ice is gone and it will be some 
hours before a new supply will be brought, keep the 
doors of the refrigerator open until it can be refilled. 
Without ice the refrigerator becomes the very worst 
sort of crowded, unaired food closet. 

If one has difficulty in keeping an old or poor 
refrigerator sweet, one or two pieces of charcoal 
wrapped in gauze and laid in the corners will help. 
They will need renewing frequently. No disin- 
fectant, however odourless and harmless, should be 
put into the refrigerator or into the water with which 
it is washed. Soda, borax or boracic acid answer 
the same purpose and hurt nothing. 

This chapter has concerned itself with what 
might be called the household genii. They have 
always, as old tales will tell you, been powerful and 



THE CELLAR, FIRES, PLUMBING, ETC. 137 

troublesome servants, yet withal valuable and fasci- 
nating. And, nowadays, we have many inventions 
for keeping them in order which would have made 
life easier for old-time sorcerers and magicians who 
sought to govern them by rubbing lamps and saying 
rhymes. 



XI 

MENUS AND MARKETINGr 
1. MENUS 

HUMAN beings must eat. Under ordinary 
circumstances this is neither a disagree- 
able nor a despicable duty. Just now, 
however, it is a duty which is being made unduly 
conspicuous. Even those of us with good digestions 
and excellent appetites can hardly sit down to a 
meal without taking some thought concerning nutri- 
tive values and the use of beverages, things which 
should not be thought of except by housewives, 
doctors and nurses, whose business they are. People 
watching their own symptoms and doctoring them- 
selves, people constantly observing their own thoughts 
and feelings, and people studying their own diet and 
digestions are all in the same class — they are all 
made ill by too much personal attention. 

Mr. G. K. Chesterton has said a wise word on 
the subject of keeping good health. It is: "The 
one supreme way of making all those processes go 

138 



MENUS AND MARKETING 139 

right, the processes of health and strength and grace 
and beauty, the one and only way of making cer- 
tain of their accuracy, is to think about something 
else." He supports this idea with the command: 
*'Take no thought what ye shall eat or what ye shall 
drink." 

The only person in a household who should busy 
herself with matters of diet is the housekeeper. 
The other people ought to be too busy and too 
interested to think of diet and digestion between 
meals, and too courteously occupied in being agree- 
able at table to think of them then. 

Knowledge concerning diet and digestion, both 
valuable and useless, can be had without asking. 

The grocer sends you with your purchases a pam- 
phlet on nourishment; a restaurant menu furnishes 
a few thoughts on mastication; warnings against 
coffee drinking glare at you in the street cars; library 
shelves are crowded with books on health, food, 
and so on. When we go out to luncheon or have 
guests to dinner, matters of diet and digestion are 
talked of so freely that we seem to eat with a chart of 
the digestive tract before our mind's eye, and we 
suspiciously watch while innocent food, which unob- 
served might have given vitality and cheer, becomes 
a cause of weariness and depression. 



140 HOUSEKEEPING 

To know enough to feed a family wisely, agree- 
ably and economically without becoming over-care- 
ful, or perhaps a faddist in regard to food is indeed 
very difficult. For one thing, avoid fixed rules 
and arbitrary ideas in catering. Digestions are as 
different as noses and thumb signatures; one can, 
therefore, neither invariably forbid one thing nor 
insist upon another. On the contrary, digestions 
are as alike in general as noses and thumb signatures, 
and it is, therefore, unnecessary and harmful that 
any member of a family should be especially pro- 
vided for and cooked for unless that person is an 
invalid living upon a prescribed diet. 

I believe a simple and successful rule for those 
who have nothing to do with the meals except to eat 
them is: Eat what is set before you and find some- 
thing amusing to say or to think about. It is a 
little difficult at first, both to eat things one does 
not especially care for, and to think up something 
amusing, but it soon becomes a habit. Meals are 
not times for stoking an engine, even with the most 
thoughtfully selected fuel, but times for the renewal 
of life. There is a meditative by-path which leads 
off from this thought concerning the reasons that 
meals are in some cases the most sacred and spiritual 
rites of religion. We must not wander there, how- 



MENUS AND MARKETING 141 

ever, but may note in passing the reason for saying 
Grace at meals which is suggested by this thought. 
A Grace blesses a gift of new life and is a thanks- 
giving for it. 

But that meals shall fulfil their office of renewing 
life and gladness, it is necessary that the woman who 
selects and arranges them shall have some knowledge 
and shall expend some care. It need not be elabor- 
ate knowledge, nor burdensome care, just a usual 
quantity of each. 

It has been discovered that human bodies are 
composed of chemical elements just as are cabbages 
and doctors' prescriptions. Some of the elements 
of which we are composed are oxygen, hydrogen, 
carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulphur, iron, potas- 
sium, calcium, and there are others yet. It 
would seem a simple matter to find out just how 
much of each of these things we contained and 
then to keep up the supply by eating or inhaling 
them in the required quantities, but you can be 
sure there is nothing as dull and matter-of-fact 
as that in this interesting creation. We are not 
doctors' prescriptions, we are even a bit more 
remarkable than cabbages, and it is not just correctly 
measured proportions of oxygen, nitrogen and pot- 
assium that we need, but energy, and heat, and 



142 HOUSEKEEPING 

flesh, and blood. Therefore, it is that when we con- 
sult some wise table of statistics in which the nour- 
ishing value of food is given, we do not find it given 
in terms of oxygen and hydrogen and the rest, 
but in terms which indicate heat, energy and build- 
ing material. 

Tables of the composition of foods are usually 
made in the following terms: Refuse, Water, Pro- 
tein, Fat, Carbohydrates, Ash. Added to these 
there will often be a division headed "Calories." 
The calory nevertheless is not a food substance, 
it is the unit by which energy-giving heat is meas- 
ured. Just as a ribbon is measured in yards and 
molasses in cupful s, so heat is measured in calories. 

"Refuse" means that part of food which cannot 
be eaten or which could not be used by the body if it 
were eaten, as bones, fibres, seeds, parings, pods 
and shells. 

"Protein" is an inclusive word for the chief sub- 
stances in food which the body can use in rebuild- 
ing itself as use wears it out. 

"Carbohydrates" are the fuel of the body. They 
are converted at once into heat and energy, or if 
there is a surplus they are often stored in the body 
in the form of fat to be used when nourishment is 
less abundant. 



MENUS AND MARKETING 143 

**Fat" is also fuel, a more concentrated form of 
fuel than the carbohydrates. A certain quantity 
is stored in the body as a reserve heat supply. 

The word *'Ash" in food tables stands for the 
mineral matters which are used in our bodies for 
building bones and teeth, and for a few other pur- 
poses; these minerals are for the most part building 
materials, but are not so important as protein and 
are needed in smaller quantities. 

Human bodies are constituted to withstand adver- 
sities and to bear the experiments and mistakes 
which we make ; therefore it is that though these food 
substances usually serve the purposes attributed to 
them above, yet when need arises the body is able, 
for a time at least, to use one for the other. This 
is a provision, however, for special and adverse 
occasions. Ordinarily food should be supplied in 
the variety and proportion which will enable the 
body to use each class of nourishment for its own 
purpose. 

Roughly estimated, an average person's diet should 
be about one-fifth protein, one-fifth fat and three- 
fifths carbohydrates. That the carbohydrates exceed 
the others in quantity is easily accounted for. They 
are not such concentrated fuel as fat, therefore a 
greater quantity is needed; they are consumed to make 



144 HOUSEKEEPING 

heat instead of being built into the body as protein 
is; therefore, we need more carbohydrates, just as 
we need to renew the coal supply in a house more 
frequently than to renew the carpets. 

The foods from which we derive protein are 
chiefly meat, fish, milk, beans, peas, bread and other 
articles made of wheat, corn, oats, and like grains. 

Vegetables, with the exception of beans and peas, 
furnish chiefly carbohydrates. 

Fats are derived for the most part from the animal 
food which we eat. Butter, for instance, is chiefly fat, 
and the proportion of fat in bacon is more than half. 

But because nearly every kind of food contains 
other constituents besides the one which is chief, 
the housekeeper who wishes to make wise menus 
will need more and more detailed statements of 
food values as she is able to get and understand them. 
If she has hitherto thought little about such matters, 
she will probably not know that the United States 
Government has very kindly employed people to 
make years of experiments and to write books and 
pamphlets for her help, nor will she know that she 
may have these last merely by asking the Department 
of Agriculture for them. They are not made into 
attractive booklets, but they are by no means dull 
reading. Farmers' Bulletin No. 142, for instance, 



MENUS AND MARKETING 145 

called "Principles of Nutrition and Nutritive Value 
of Food," and written by Dr. W. O. Atwater, is 
brief, helpful and most interesting. The figures 
in the table given below were taken from this Bulle- 
tin. But there are things which may be derived 
from this and the many other food pamphlets issued 
by the Government which are quite as important as 
definite statistics. They are things which give the 
housewife a feeling of comradeship with many people 
who are working earnestly with and for her; things 
which increase her interest in her own small part 
of the work and which give her a helpful sense of its 
dignity. 

For many reasons it is impossible for a house- 
wife to make an exact calculation of the amount of 
nourishment which she gives her family. The 
figures in even the most carefully made tables are, 
of necessity, averages or approximates, for food 
varies in quality in different localities and at different 
seasons. Moreover, the figures in the various gov- 
ernment reports upon food values and in books giv- 
ing such statistics differ somewhat, nevertheless, 
there is sufficient general agreement upon which to 
base an intelligent effort to make wise as well as 
agreeable menus. 

On this account, a housewife who is neither very 



146 HOUSEKEEPING 

learned nor very experienced can yet wisely regulate 
her menus by keeping in mind the general char- 
acter of a day's nourishment and helping out her 
lack of chemical knowledge with a table of food 
values such as the one below. The general aim 
in providing food, as has already been said, is to 
furnish all the varieties of nourishment which the 
body requires and the chief ones in about the pro- 
portion of a fifth protein to a fifth fat to three-fifths 
carbohydrates. That is, either the per cent, of 
protein or the per cent, of fat multiplied by three 
should about equal the carbohydrates. This is, 
of course, a very rough and general way of estima- 
ting, but I believe it to be a practical way to begin 
the study and application of a branch of difficult 
and as yet slightly established knowledge. 



Food Materials. 


Ref. 
use. 


Water. 


Pro- 
tein. 


Fat. 


Carbo- 
hy- 
drates. 


Ash. 


Beef: 

Chuck ribs 


Per cent. 

16.3 

20.8 

7.2 
20.7 
36.9 
12.7 

12.8 

8.4 
'4.7 


Per cent. 

52.6 
43.8 
63.9 
60.7 
45.0 
42.9 
52.4 
54.0 

49.2 
51.8 
53.7 


Per cent. 

15.5 
13.9 
19.3 
19.0 
13.8 
12.8 
19.1 
16.5 

14.3 
26.3 
26.4 


Per cent. 

15.0 
21.2 
16.7 
12.8 
20.2 
7.3 
17.9 
16.1 

23.8 

18.7 

6.9 


Per cent. 


Per cent. 

0.8 


Ribs 

Rib rolls 








.7 
.9 


Round 


1.0 


Rump 

Shank, fore 

Porterhouse steak 


•.7 
.6 
.8 


Sirioin steak 


.9 






4.6 


Canned corned beef 

Dried and smoked beef 








4.0 
8 9 



MENUS AND MARKETING 



147 



Food Materials. 


Ref- 
use. 


Water. 


Pro- 
tein. 


Fat. 


Carlo- 

hy- 

drates. 


Aih. 


Veal: 

Breast 


Per cent. 

21.8 

14.2 

3.4 

9.9 
18.4 
16.0 

19.1 
17.4 

10.7 
13.6 
12.4 

18.2 
19.7 

7.7 


Per cent. 

52.0 
60.1 
68.3 

39.0 
51.2 
42.0 

45.5 
52.9 

48.0 
34.8 
44.9 
36.8 
41.8 
17.4 
7.9 

55.2 
39.8 
57.2 

43.7 
47.1 
38.5 
42.4 

58.5 
40.2 
61.9 
40.4 
35.2 
19.2 
63.5 
53.6 

88.3 


Per cent. 

15.4 
15.5 
20.1 

13.8 
15.1 
13.5 

15.4 
15.9 

13.5 
14.2 
12.0 
13.0 
13.4 
9.1 
1.9 

18.2 
13.0 
19.6 

12.8 
13.7 
13.4 
16.1 

11.1 
16.0 
15.3 
10.2 
9.4 
20.5 
21.8 
23.7 

6.0 


Per cent. 

11.0 
7.9 
7.5 

36.9 
14.7 

28.3 

19.1 
13.6 

25.9 
33.4 

29.8 
26.6 
24.2 
62.2 
86.2 

19.7 

44.2 
18.6 

1.4 
12.3 
29.8 
18.4 

.2 

.4 

4.4 

4.2 

4.8 

8.8 

12.1 

12.1 

1.3 


Per cent. 


Per cent. 
.8 


Leff 


.9 


liCg cutlets 


1.0 


Mutton: 
Flank 


.6 


IjCg, hind 


.8 


Xx^iu chops 


.7 


Lamb: 

Breast 


.8 


Leg, hind 


.9 


Pork: 

Ham 


.8 


Ham, smoked 






4.2 


Shoulder 


.7 


Shoulder, smoked 


5.5 


Loin chops 


.8 


Bacon, smoked 


4.1 


Salt pork 


8.9 


Sausage: 

Bologna 


3.3 


i.'i 
1.1 


3.8 


Pork 


2.2 






8.4 


Poultry: 

Chicken, broilers 

Fowls 


41.6 
25.9 
17.6 

22.7 

29.9 
24.9 
17.7 
44.7 
50.1 
44.4 


.7 
.7 


Goose 


.7 


Turkey 


.8 


Fish- 

Cod, dressed 


.8 








18.5 


Halibut, steaks 


.9 


Mackerel, whole 


.7 


Shad, whole 

Herring, smoked 


.7 

7.4 


Salmon, canned 


2.6 


Sardines 


5.0 


5.S 


Oyster.s 


3.3 


1.1 













148 



HOUSEKEEPING 



Food Maieriali. 



Ref. 
use. 



Water. 



Pro- 
tein. 



Fat. 



Carbo- 
hy- 
drates. 



Ash. 



Shedl fish : — Continued. 

Clams 

Crabs 

Lobsters 



Eggs: 



Dairy Products: 

Butter 

Whole milk 

Skim milk 

Buttermilk 

Condensed milk . . 

Cream 

Cheese, full cream. 



Per cent. Per cent 



52.4 
61.7 

11.2 



Flour, Meal, etc.: 

Entire wheat flour 

Graham flour 

Wheat flour, roller process, 

high and medium grades. . . 

Low grade 

Macaroni, vermicelli, etc 

Wheat breakfast food 

Buckwheat flour 

Rye flour 

Com meal 

Oat breakfast food 

Rice 

Tapioca 



Bread: 

White 

Brown 

Graham 

Whole wheat. 
Rye 



Sugars, etc. '. 

Molasses 

Honey 

Sugar, granulated. 
Maple syrup .... 



Vegetables: 
Beans, dried 



80.8 
36.7 
30.7 

65.5 



11.0 
87.0 
90.6 
91.0 
26.9 
74.0 
34.2 



11.4 
11.3 

12.0 
12.0 
10.3 

9.6 
13.6 
12.9 
12.5 

7.7 
12.3 
11.4 



35.3 
43.6 
35.7 
38.4 
35.7 



....I 12.6 22.5 



Per cent. 

10.6 
7.9 
5.9 

13.1 



1.0 
3.3 
3.4 
3.0 
8.8 
2.5 
25.9 



13.8 
13.3 

11.4 

14.0 

13.4 

12.1 

6.4 

6.8 

9.2 

16.7 

8.0 

.4 



9.2 
5.4 
8.9 
9.7 
9.0 



1.1 
.9 

.7 

9.3 



85.0 

4.0 

.3 

.5 

8.3 

18.5 

33.7 



1.9 

2.2 

1.0 
1.9 

.9 
1.8 
1.2 

.9 
1.9 
7.3 

.3 

.1 



1.3 

1.8 

1.8 

.9 

.6 



5.2 
.6 



5.0 
5.1 

4.8 

54.1 

4.5 

2.4 



71.9 
71.4 

75.1 

71.2 
74.1 
75.2 
77.9 
78.7 
75.4 
66.2 
79.0 
88.0 



53.1 
47.1 
52.1 
49.7 
53.2 



70.0 

81.0 

100.0 

71.4 



1.8 59.6 



2.3 
1.5 



3.0 
.7 
.7 
.7 

1.9 
.5 

8.8 



1.0 

1.8 

.5 

.9 

1.3 

1.8 

.9 

.7 

1.0 

2.1 

.4 

.1 



1.1 
2.1 
1.5 
1.3 
1.5 



3.5 



MENUS AND MARKETING 



149 



Food Materials. 



Ref. 



Water 



Pro- 
tein. 



Fat. 



Carbo' 

hy- 
drates. 



Ash. 



Vegetables: — Continued. 

Beans, lima, shelled 

Beans, string 

Baked beans, canned 

Beets 

Cabbage 

Celery 

Corn, green, edible portion. 

Cucumbers 

Lettuce 

Mushrooms 

Onions 

Parsnips 

Peas, shelled 

Peas, canned 

Potatoes 

Rhubarb 

Sweet potatoes 

Spinach 

Squash 

Tomatoes 

Tomatoes, canned 

Turnips 



Pdr cent. Per cent. Per cent 



FRtriTS, Berries, etc. 

Apples 

Apples, dried 

Bananas 

Grapes , 

Lemons , 

Muskmelons 

Oranges 

Pears 

Raspberries 

Strawberries 

Watermelons 

Apricots, dried 

Dates 

Figs. 

Raisins 



Nuts: 

Almonds 

Chestnuts 

Cocoanuts 

Cocoanut, prepared . . . 



7.0 

20 !6 
15.0 
20.0 

15.6 
15.0 

io.o 

20.0 



20.0 
40.0 
20.0 



50.0 



SO.O 



25.0 



35. 
25.0 
SO.O 
50.0 
27.0 
10.0 



5.0 
59.4 



10.0 

io.o 



45.0 
16.0 

48.8 



68.5 
88.0 
68.9 
70.0 
77.7 
75.6 
75.4 
81.1 
80.5 
88.1 
78.9 
66.4 
74.6 
85.3 
62.6 
56.6 
55.2 
92.3 
44.2 
94.3 
94.0 
62.7 



68.3 

28.1 
48.9 
58.0 
62.5 
44.8 
63.4 
76.0 
85.8 
85.9 
37.5 
29.4 
13.8 
18.8 
13.1 



2.7 

87.8 

7.2 

3.5 



7.1 
2.1 
6.9 
1.3 
1.4 

.9 
3.1 

.7 
1.0 
3.5 
1.4 
1.3 
7.0 
3.6 
1.8 

.4 
1.4 
2.1 

.7 

.9 
1.2 

.9 



.3 
1.6 

.8 

1.0 

.7 

.3 

.6 

.5 

1.0 

.9 

.2 

4.7 

1.9 

4.3 

2.3 



11.5 
5.2 
2.9 
6.3 



.7 
.3 

2.5 
.1 
.2 
.1 

1.1 
.2 
.2 
.4 
.3 
.4 
.5 
.2 
.1 
.4 
.6 
.3 
.2 
.4 
.2 
.1 



.3 
2.2 

.4 
1.2 

.5 

.1 
.4 

.6 

.1 

1.0 

2.5 

.3 

3.0 



30.2 

4.5 

25.9 

57.4 



22.0 
6.9 

19.6 
7.7 
4.8 
2.6 

19.7 
2.6 
2.5 
6.8 
8.9 

10.8 

16.9 
9.8 

14.7 
2.2 

21.9 
8.2 
4.5 
3.9 
4.0 
5.7 



10.8 

66.1 

14.3 

14.4 

5.9 

4.6 

8.5 

12.7 

12.6 

7.0 

2.7 

62.5 

70.6 

74.2 

68.5 



9.5 
35.4 
14.8 
81.5 



1.7 
.7 

2.1 
.9 
.9 
.8 
.7 
.4 
.8 

1.2 
.5 

1.1 

1.0 

1.1 
.8 
.4 
.9 

2.1 
.4 
.6 
.6 



.3 

2.0 
.6 

.4 

.4 

.3 

.4 

.4 

.6 

.6 

.1 

2.4 

1.2 

2.4 

8.1 



1.1 

1.1 

.9 

1.3 



150 



HOUSEKEEPING 



Food Materials. 



Ref- 



Water. 



Pro- 
tein. 



Fat. 



Carbo- 
hy- 
drates. 



Ash. 



Nuts : — Continued. 
Hickory nuts. . . . 

Peanuts 

Walnuts, black. . . 
Walnuts, English , 

Chocolate 

Cocoa, powdered . 



62.2 
24.5 
74.1 
58.1 



1.4 

6.9 

.6 

1.0 

5.9 
4.6 



5.8 
19.5 

7.2 
6.9 

12.9 
21.6 



25.5 
29.1 
14.6 
26.6 

48.7 
28.9 



Per cint. 

4.3 

18.5 

3.0 

6.8 

30.3 
37.7 



.8 

1.5 

.5 

.6 

2.2 
7.2 



A table given as this one, in percentages instead 
of quantities, may seem at first sight too indefinite 
to be of much service to a housekeeper who natur- 
ally wishes to know the quantity of food to give 
her household as well as the proportions of its com- 
position. I have purposely avoided giving a food 
table which deals with quantities because I believe 
this one to be more useful to a beginner. One's 
first calculations in food values can hardly be other 
than approximate and inexact. Not many girls, 
when they begin their housekeeping, have either 
the time or the ability to make the calculations 
which even the simplest schemes for computing a 
dietary require. Besides, an effort to provide scien- 
tifically correct meals on the part of a housewife to 
whom the effort is unfamiliar and difficult is apt 
to produce monotony in the meals, worry in her, 
and disregard and forgetfulness of the family's par- 
ticular tastes. 



MENUS AND MARKETING 151 

A first and simple step for her to take is to make 
herself familiar with the chief value of different 
articles of food and of the more usual combinations. 
When she takes this last matter into consideration 
she will find that many combinations which are 
traditional, which were probably made merely by 
instinct, are, when tested, palatable wisdom. For 
instance, bread is a very complete food in itself 
except that it is a little lacking in fat, but people have 
been spreading butter on it for centuries, and thereby 
completing it. 

Consider the traditional combination of baked 
beans and brown bread. Referring to the table 
we find beans a fairly well-balanced food, but 
a little lacking in fat. In brown bread neither 
the protein nor the fat come anywhere near 
being a third of the carbohydrates. Therefore, 
when we combine these two articles we shall 
be a little lacking in protein and a good deal 
lacking in fat. Butter on the bread will help 
this last difficulty and the wisdom of our 
ancestors will help out the rest. What did they 
combine with these two ? Codfish cakes, to be 
sure. And in these there is codfish which has a 
good deal of protein in it; egg which has protein 
and fat; butter which is chiefly fat and potato which 



152 HOUSEKEEPING 

is chiefly carbohydrates. We might make a dia- 
gram of it, like this : 

Cod fish .... Protein 

Egg Protein Fat 

Butter Fat 

Potato Carbohydrates 

As a dish to combine with two articles somewhat 
lacking in protein and fat, we may feel ourselves 
content with this. 

In many people's minds the word "sausage" is 
just naturally followed by the words "buckwheat 
cakes." Is there sanction for this ? From the food 
table we learn that sausage has a fair percentage of 
protein, almost no carbohydrates, and is almost 
half fat. Buckwheat cakes have in them, beside 
buckwheat flour, a little milk and often some wheat 
flour or corn meal. This table will, perhaps, repre- 
sent the matter better than an explanation. 

Protein. Fat. Carbohydrates. 

Sausage 13.0 44.2 1.1 

Buckwheat flour .... 6.4 1.2 77.9 

Milk 3.S 4.0 5.0 

The table says to the eye, too much fat. One 
cannot remedy the defect by increasing the pro- 
tein and carbohydrates to match the fat, for we 
should then have as much food at one meal as we 
should need for three. The real remedy is to bal- 



MENUS AND MARKETING 153 

ance this meal with others during the day in which 
the percentage of fat is very low. Another remedy 
is to serve meals with a large percentage of fat on 
very cold days; in that case the weather will help 
to balance the excess of heat production. 

Pursuing this matter of tradition, why are peas 
served with lamb, and why is pork so often accom- 
panied with "greens" of some sort.^ The percen- 
tage of protein in lamb is low enough to allow, 
perhaps require, some supplement from the vege- 
tables. The excess of fat in pork is offset by the 
excess of water in greens, and also by certain medi- 
cinal qualities they possess which are represented 
in the percentage of "Ash." One might almost 
say that the combination known as "hog's jowl and 
turnip greens" is providential. I am sure it has 
saved bodily suffering and even lives in certain 
pig-raising localities. 

One can see from looking thoughtfully at this food 
table that the dinner at which we have lamb, veal, 
poultry, or fish is the occasion upon which to have 
a substantial vegetable, such as macaroni, lima 
beans, parsnips or sweet potatoes, or an especially 
substantial dessert such as a boiled pudding or a 
pie. It is also evident that when we have beef, 
mutton or pork it is healthful to combine them with 



154 HOUSEKEEPING 

vegetables like spinach, cabbage, lettuce, tomatoes 
and turnips, which contain a large percentage of 
water. The dessert for such occasions may well 
be a jelly or fruit in some form — something light 
and cool. 

The day on which we have roast pork is not the 
occasion to have apple dumpling or any dessert 
with a percentage of fat; the meal at which we serve 
beef steak and mushrooms is not the one to com- 
plete with mince pie, for we should then have more 
protein than we should know what to do with. On 
the contrary, the day on which the main dish at din- 
ner is made from yesterday's meat, or is fish, is not 
the time for a watery or a fluffy dessert, unless 
we are purposely planning a day of abstinence. If 
it happens that the family diet includes little meat, 
care must be taken that protein is supplied from 
other sources, otherwise we shall be running an 
engine at full speed in a building which is never 
decently repaired and which will one day fall round 
our ears. 

There are several questions which frequently arise 
in the mind of a person who begins to study food 
values. One is, why are articles included in the 
menu of almost every meal which have almost no 
value as nourishment ? In many cases such articles 



MENUS AND MARKETING 155 

are appetizing and refreshing; such are lettuce, 
celery, muskmelons, cucumbers and many soups 
and desserts. They also contain much water, of 
which the body has great and constant need. They 
also give bulk to our food, which is a necessity 
because some of the processes of digestion do not 
begin until the organs to which they belong are 
expanded. 

A housewife who is bewildered or disheartened 
will sometimes ask why we cannot take our food 
in capsules, or why an ideal dietary cannot be made 
and used over and over again. She will not be the 
first person who has thought of these expedients, 
but it has been fairly well proved that highly con- 
densed food, as also " predigested " foods, not only 
lack this element of bulk of which we have been 
speaking, but have an even worse defect. They 
give us something for nothing, which is always bad 
for us. That is, they furnish us with nourishment 
without requiring any effort to speak of from the 
digestive organs. As a result the digestive organs 
grow flabby and useless from having nothing to do. 
A child in school who is never given anything diffi- 
cult to do grows flabby in mind and character and soon 
can't do anything difficult; so it is with a digestion. 

The objection to the use of an ideal dietary is, in 



156 HOUSEKEEPING 

the first place, that such a dietary has not been dis- 
covered. People claim to have discovered it, but 
that is different from really doing so. But the chief 
objection to the use of such a thing is that the body 
requires a variety of food, that a variety of food has 
been provided for it on the earth and that the part 
of us which is not body will not stand eating the 
same thing every day or even every week. Have 
you ever lived in a boarding house or in an institu- 
tion where there was an invariable week's menu. It 
is a mechanical contrivance which soon stirs up rebel- 
lion, and rightly. 

Probably a word more needs to be said on this 
subject of variety, for it is a saving grace in menu 
making. If one can give one's household real variety 
of food, not merely that which is made by different 
methods of serving and cooking, but that which 
is actually a difference in constituents, mistakes 
in selection will then never get very long or thor- 
oughly established. If one cannot be right all the 
time, by means of variety one can be fairly sure of 
being right some of the time. Variety is also made 
necessary by changes in season, in occupation, in 
state of health, and I think I may add without mak- 
ing a loop-hole for pampering people unduly, that 
it is made necessary at times by change of mood. 



MENUS AND MARKETING 157 

A trivial thing comes to my mind which none the 
less illustrates what I am trying to say about variety. 
So often I have seen a woman, whom I like to be with, 
a woman who has many, many things to do, take 
a few moments to make the last bit of her cookie- 
dough into an elephant or a rabbit of extraordi- 
nary figure. The cheering effect of this animal upon 
the boy who comes in from school very tired and 
perhaps cross or discouraged, is delightful to see. 
I repent that I called it a trivial thing, for this puffy, 
blunt-legged animal is to the child pleasant food, 
an amusing sight and the assurance that some one has 
thought gladly of him during the long school hours. 

Variety in menus gives to the grown-up mind the 
same pleasurable feelings which the cookie ele- 
phant gives to the mind of the child, with this prac- 
tical addition, that such feelings of pleasure also 
quicken the appetite and the energy and digestive 
powers of the body, thus enabling it to profit more 
by the nourishment varied foods convey. 

MARKETING 

Making a wise menu does not by any means pro- 
duce a meal. It is a first step in the process, the 
next is to buy the food which is required by the 
menu. 



158 HOUSEKEEPING 

Many women like to shop, and even more like to 
have it thought that they know how to shop. For 
some unknown reason shopping for food does not 
usually excite the same interest nor is it so coveted 
an accomplishment. I wonder if it seems less inter- 
esting because the things shopped for are not "to 
keep." If this is the reason, one has but to remind 
oneself that they are "to keep," only they must 
first be transmuted into the flesh and bones, work 
and laughter of the family. 

A large city market is a "sight" in the same sense 
that a museum or an aquarium or a menagerie is. 
It is also to some extent a "sight" in the way that 
an art gallery is. I would like to give as a reward 
to good housekeepers a visit to the market in 
Venice. It is spread in heaps and piles of colour 
on gray stones, and shaded with gay awnings. 
Women wearing fringed shawls and high heels 
and high combs go to it in gondolas, and the 
market-stuffs are brought to it in boats which 
glide up to the steps through thousand-coloured 
ripples. 

Often, however, marketing is done in ugly little 
shops instead of in one big market. But though 
small shops are not so spectacular, they are often 
easier to market in, and the customer usually receives 



MENUS AND MARKETING 159 

an amount of personal attention which is useful if 
one has many things to learn. 

One of the best reasons for going to a market 
or to provision shops every day or two is that there 
is so much to be learned there. An incidental reason 
is that going to market takes the housewife out of 
doors more often than she might otherwise go. 
Another reason for going is that it helps in making 
varied menus; one sees things which would never 
have been thought of at home. The housewife who 
goes to market can also take advantage of special 
prices. 

Wise marketing, like wise shopping, requires of 
us two moral qualities, judgment and self-restraint. 
One must ask oneself and answer wisely and 
truly : 

Is this what I want ? 

Is its price reasonable for me to pay ? 

Is it good of its kind ? 

Is it in good condition ? 

Is it a suitable size or quantity ? 

If any of it is left to-day will it fit into my plans 
for to-morrow ? 

Is this what I want.? That is, is it what I have 
reasonably planned to get or just something which 
momentarily appeals to me. On the other hand, 



160 HOUSEKEEPING 

is it perhaps better for my purpose than the thing I 

had planned to have ? 

"Reasonable," used in regard to a price, has 
two interpretations, and the housewife is concerned 
with both. She must consider whether the price of 
an article is *' within her means" as people say, that 
is, whether she can buy this thing which she wants 
without sacrificing something equally or more impor- 
tant. She must also consider whether the price is 
a reasonable value for the nourishment and enjoy- 
ment which it represents and not a fictitious 
price caused by unseasonableness or an unusual 
demand. 

Is it good of its kind ? And is it in good condition ? 
Are questions which may well be considered together. 
We can only learn to answer them by experiment 
and experience. Especially is this true in regard 
to meat. One cannot easily recognize the different 
pieces from another person's description, and it is 
often difficult to do so from pictures. Even the 
names of the pieces differ considerably in different 
localities, and a knowledge of the quality of meat is 
impossible to obtain except from actual experience. 
The best and easiest way to learn about meat is from 
a good butcher. Three or four minutes of his time 
appropriated by you every time that you go to his 



MENUS AND MARKETING 161 

shop will make you into a skilful marketer. Do 
not hesitate to ask him questions nor be afraid of 
betraying your ignorance. For whether you know 
much or little, it is well to put a good deal of respon- 
sibility upon him in selecting meat, then if it is not 
satisfactory he can fairly be taken to task, but if you 
do the choosing without his help, a mistake is your 
own fault. 

If the housewife is not sure of the names given 
to pieces of meat in the locality in which she is mar- 
keting, or not very sure of such names anyv/here, 
she may easily explain her wishes by designating 
what she means to do with a piece of meat, as, "a 
piece of veal for roasting," "about a pound and a 
half of lamb for stewing," "a piece of beef for soup," 
and the like phrases. 

Her receipt book will probably give her pictures 
and the names of pieces of meat, or she may again 
apply to her paternal government for Farmers' 
Bulletin No. 34 : *' Meats : Composition and Cooking," 
in which she will find placid animals divided into 
numbered sections, and considerable explanation 
of ways in which these sections may be used. 

Because the names of pieces of meat and the 
methods of cutting them vary considerably, I shall 
give but a brief and general table here. This dia- 



162 



HOUSEKEEPING 



gram of a side of beef will give some idea of the posi- 
tion of the several pieces. 




1. Hind Shank 

2. Lower Round 

3. Round 

4. Aitch Bone 

5. Rump 

6. Loin 

7. Flank 

8. Navel 

9. Plate 

10. Ribs 

11. Brisket 

12. Cross Ribs 

13. Chuck 

14. Neck 

15. Shoulder 

16. Fore Shank 



Beef. — The neck, shin or shank and navel are 
usually used for soup stock. 

A variety of pieces known by a variety of names, 
such as cross ribs, plate or Rattel rand, brisket, 
shoulder, rump, thick flank, aitch bone and the 
butt or vein, are used for boiling, braising, stewing, 
corned beef, pot roasts and spiced beef. 

The upper round, occasionally called the buttock, 
is used for round steaks. 

The lower round is good for beef-tea, hamburg- 
steak, meat pies and any purpose for which good 
chopped beef is needed. 

The chuck ribs are those nearest the neck; they 



MENUS AND MARKETING 163 

are frequently used for stews, chuck steaks and 
ragout. Sometimes the ribs are removed and the 
meat rolled and tied; this makes a tender and well- 
flavoured roast. 

The prime ribs, of which some people say there 
are five and others six, are used for prime roasts. 
They are divided into first, second and third cuts; 
the last is considered least desirable. 

From the part of the animal known as the loin are 
cut porterhouse, sirloin and short steaks; from this part 
also comes the tenderloin, sometimes called the fillet. 

The parts of the loin and the prime ribs are the 
most expensive and are considered the most desirable 
parts of the animal. The housekeeper whose purse 
will not permit her to buy them may comfort her- 
self, though, with the fact that they contain no 
more nourishment than some less popular pieces. 

Other meats are divided into somewhat fewer 
cuts than beef. The more general divisions are 
given below. 

Veal. — The loin is used for roasts and chops. 

The fillet for roasts and cutlets. 

The better parts of the neck and the breast are 
used for roasting and chops. 

The less desirable parts for pies, pot roasts and 
stews. 



164 HOUSEKEEPING 

The shank, which in veal is known as a ''knuckle,'* 
is used for soup and broths. 

Mutton or lamb. — ^The leg is used for roasting or 
boiling. 

The shoulder for baking and roasting. 

The loin for chops and roasts. 

The ribs, which are often called the "rack," are 
used chiefly for chops. 

The breast may be roasted, baked or stewed. 

Pork. — Hams and shoulders, the back and front 
legs of the animal, are eaten either smoked or fresh. 

The loin, ribs and sparerib are used for roasts, 
chops, stews and baked dishes. 

Pieces used for salt pork and bacon are cut from 
the almost clear fat of the back and sides. 

Almost all parts of the pig are used for food, but 
as they are usually known by names which indicate 
what they are, they give the housewife little trouble 
in remembering them. 

The use of your eye, sometimes of your hand, 
is required in judging the condition of the food you 
are buying. 

Meat which is without fat is probably tough. 
Fat of beef should be pale yellow and dry, the lean, 
bright red and firm. Mutton, veal and pork should 
have pure white fat, the lean of mutton should be 



MENUS AND MARKETING 165 

bright red, of veal, pink, of pork, a somewhat more 
delicate pink. 

Chickens should have soft, moist, yellow feet, 
smooth, thick legs, and tender skin. The end of 
the breastbone should be pliable. Plump, very 
bright yellow chickens are fat and are better for 
stews or pot-pie than for roasting. 

Turkeys should have smooth, black legs and 
white, plump breasts. If the flesh of their legs 
is purplish they are probably old. 

Geese and ducks should have soft feet, hard 
breasts and pinkish beaks. 

Fish in good condition have bright eyes and 
scales, stiff fins and flesh so hard and firm 
that it will not retain the mark if pressed with a 
finger. 

It is not a difficult matter to tell whether fruit 
and vegetables are fresh and good. When such 
things are wilted, withered, bruised or lacking in 
firmness, they are not good for food unless they 
are merely wilted as lettuce and asparagus some- 
times are on a hot day, or when they have been 
carried through the sun. 

I know of no way of judging butter except by 
tasting it. There is little also by which to judge 
eggs; their shells should not be shiny or very smooth 



166 HOUSEKEEPING 

and they should feel both light and heavy — if you 
can tell what I mean by that. 

The last two questions on the marketing list are 
also usually considered together. Both are really 
questions concerning quantity. 

Food so often comes in quantities too large for 
one meal that it is usually better to make menus 
for two days at one time and then revise the sec- 
ond day's menu when the second day comes. 

Under these questions of quantity comes a class 
of articles a little different from those which we 
have just been mentioning: articles like sugar, 
flour, salt, coffee, tea and the like, which are bought 
in bulk. In what quantity it is wise to buy such 
things depends upon the size of the household, the 
place where these articles may be kept, the distance 
from the place where the supply can be renewed, the 
income of the family and whether the housewife or 
a reliable servant dispenses them for use. I think 
it is pretty generally admitted that households 
which are living on small means do better to buy 
food supplies in small quantities. The advantages 
of doing this are, that if the commodity is injured 
in any way, the loss is small; that no large outlay 
of money is required at any one time; that the small- 
ness of the quantity possessed is a continual guard 



MENUS AND MARKETING 167 

against its lavish use. These advantages usually 
amply offset the fact that it is a little cheaper and 
a little more comfortable to buy in large quantities. 

Because it is easier, housewives sometimes fall 
into the way of dealing at just one or two shops. 
This is a good thing to do usually, a poor one to do 
invariably. To go occasionally to other shops 
gives one the chance to find better things and pleas- 
anter conditions; it also makes your regular shop- 
keeper more anxious to please if he knows you go 
elsewhere when you are not pleased. An advantage 
in cities of going here and there, is that one can often 
take advantage of a difference in prices in different 
localities. This must be done, of course, with judg- 
ment; otherwise one makes oneself a fit subject for 
one of those jokes about women who save two cents 
on a head of lettuce and spend ten in carfare going 
to get it. 

Women who take the same sort of trouble about 
marketing as they do about buying their clothes 
usually succeed well with it. It is really not a diffi- 
cult form of shopping and interest in it grows as one 
learns. 



xn 

COOKING 

OUR Brother the Sun gets up every morning 
to cook, cooks all day, and seems to enjoy 
cooking. The cooking processes which we 
engage in are many of them imitations of his. When 
we use water and heat to soften and break up starch 
cells, it is only a copy of the process by which the 
sun makes the dry starch laid up in a seed in the 
damp earth into food for the first little leaves of a 
plant. Long before we ever thought of cooking, 
the sun was changing starch into sugar by heating 
apples and pears and peaches through and through 
every day. One might even venture to say that he 
had warmed milk for all the mammal babies ever 
since the first one was born. Every once in a while, 
people appear who try to persuade us to "go back 
to nature" and eat our food uncooked, not realizing 
that they are asking us, not to go back to nature, 
but to our own first ignorance of what nature is 
doing. 

The dictionary says that *'to cook" is "to prepare 

168 




Cuok 



Photograph by Helen W. Cooke 



ilig 



COOKING 169 

food by subjecting it to heat"; a brief and simple 
definition including some thousands of processes 
ranging from the universal cooking done by the 
sun to that performed by an accomplished French 
chef. 

The object of cooking is to make food more diges- 
tible and more attractive. For changes occur in 
food when it is subjected to heat which make it 
more easily used by the body and which make it 
more agreeable in flavour — more "appetizing." 
An incidental but important benefit from cooking 
is that great heat kills the animal organisms which 
food sometimes contains. 

1. THE PROCESSES 

The most usual processes of cooking are broiling, 
boiling, stewing, braising, frying, roasting and bak- 
ing. 

Broiling. — Food is broiled by being held close to 
a fire of glowing red coals. The utensil needed for 
doing this is a wire broiler, which should be greased 
before the meat is laid in it, preferably with a bit of 
fat from the meat. In broiling, the chief object 
is to keep the juices of the meat from running out. 
For this reason the meat is laid close over the red 



170 HOUSEKEEPING 

coals for about ten seconds, then turned with the 
other side to the coals that both may be seared 
almost at once. Afterward it is turned frequently 
to prevent burning. Broiled meat is not seasoned 
until it is done because salt draws out its juices. 
Care is also taken not to cut or pierce the meat while 
it is cooking. 

Steaks and chops are almost always broiled; 
fish, chicken and oysters are frequently cooked in 
this way. 

Broiling may be done in a frying pan heated 
intensely hot, and greased as the wires of the broiler 
were with a bit of fat from the meat — a tiny bit. 
The meat is laid in the pan, first on one side for a 
few seconds, then on the other. It is turned, as when 
broiling over the coals, often enough to keep it from 
burning. 

Articles of food which are thin need a hotter fire, 
or to be laid nearer the fire than thicker ones. This 
assures that the time required to brown the outside 
will be too brief to dry the article through and 
through. 

A thick piece of meat will not cook through to 
the middle for some time and should therefore be 
exposed to a slower fire that the outside may not be 
hard before the inside is cooked. These principles 



COOKING 171 

apply also to the roasting and baking of thick and 
thin articles of food. 

Boiling. — As only liquids can boil, we mean 
when we say we boil potatoes, that we cook them in 
boiling water. When water is heated, tiny bubbles 
of steam rise in it, which at first break before they 
reach the surface; this is "simmering." As the heat 
increases, the bubbles rise more quickly and higher, 
and break at the surface; this is boiling. Water 
boils at 212° F., and, though its motion may be 
increased by heat to a "gallop," it gets no hotter, 
for the steam escapes when the little bubbles burst. 
Liquids which have a greater density than water, 
such as salt water, syrup, grease and oil, do not boil 
until they have reached a higher temperature than 
212°. Milk boils at a lower temperature than water. 
The reason it "boils over" so easily is that what one 
might call the texture of the milk bubbles which 
enclose the steam is less delicate than that of the 
water bubbles, therefore instead of breaking when 
they come to the surface, they pile up one upon 
another. 

Boiling water hardens and toughens some of the 
protein substances in food, but softens and makes 
digestible most of the substances included under 
the head of carbohydrates. 



172 HOUSEKEEPING 

Cold water softens and dissolves into itself some 
of the protein substances, and also soaks out the 
nourishing qualities of carbohydrates. 

These facts are extremely useful in deciding upon 
the best method of boiling food. For instance, if 
we have a piece of meat or fish which we wish to boil 
and serve whole, it should be put into water which 
is already boiling; this hardens the outside sufficiently 
to keep the juices inside. This hardening is accom- 
plished in about eight or ten minutes; at the end of 
that time, the temperature of the water should be 
allowed to fall a little below the boiling point that the 
inside of the article may be cooked without being 
hardened. Water into which fish is put should be 
just boiling, not rapidly boiling, as the motion some- 
times breaks the fish into pieces. 

If we wish to make soup, broth, or beef-tea, we cut 
meat into small pieces and put it into cold water, 
which is then gradually brought to a high tempera- 
ture. The cold water dissolves the substances of 
the meat, which it has a better opportunity of doing 
from many small pieces than from one large one, 
and gradually becomes highly and agreeably 
flavoured. Meanwhile, the meat becomes more and 
more tasteless and colourless and is, at last, fit 
only to be thrown away. 



COOKING 173 

Salt is put into the water in which meat is boiled. 
In cold water it helps to draw out the juices of the 
meat. In boiling water it draws them out a little, 
but the heat of the water converts them into a thin 
albuminous coating for the meat which assists in 
keeping in the juices. 

Nearly all vegetables should be put into boiling 
water instead of being put on the fire in cold and 
allowed to come to the boiling point. This is in 
order that the changes which are made in the cells 
and fibres may be made at once, before dissolvable 
substances like starch and sugar are soaked out into 
the water which is to be thrown away. Some watery 
vegetables, such as tomatoes and spinach need 
extremely little water, sometimes no more than 
adheres to them after they have been washed. These 
things are really stewed, not boiled. White pota- 
toes should be boiled gently, that the outsides may 
not break and fall off as they soften. 

In most cases, the boiling water in which vege- 
tables are put should be salted, in the proportion 
of a tablespoonful of salt to two quarts of water. 
This not only seasons them but makes the tempera- 
ture of the water somewhat greater. There are some 
exceptions to this, however; green corn is one of them; 
salt yellows and toughens it. Many authorities 



174 HOUSEKEEPING 

will tell you not to salt peas until they are nearly 
cooked. 

As soon as vegetables are tender they should be 
drained. Potatoes, whether boiled or baked, should 
not be covered after they are drained or taken from 
the oven. They should dry in the air, not soak in 
their own steam. 

Stewing. — Stewing resembles boiling. It is boil- 
ing done in the juices of the article cooked increased 
with a little water. As we wish some of the juices 
to flow out, we put food to be stewed into cold water. 
When it has been brought gradually to the boiling 
point, the heat should then be lowered to the sim- 
mering point and the food allowed to simmer for a 
long while. Stewing is a slow method of cooking 
but it makes digestible and appetizing meat and 
coarse vegetables which otherwise would be hard 
fare. To food which is neither coarse nor tough, 
it imparts a particularly delectable flavour. Stewed 
mushrooms are a good example of this. 

Braising. — Braising is rather like stewing done 
in the oven. A tightly covered pan or earthenware 
dish is required for it and a "slow" oven. The 
meat is shut in the pan with seasonings and a little 
water, and cooked long and slowly in the oven. 

Braising is sometimes done in a closely covered 



COOKING 175 

dish set in a moderately heated place on the top of 
the stove. 

Frying. — Frying is done in two ways, by immers- 
ing the article to be fried in deep, hot fat and also 
by laying it first on one side then on the other in a 
pan in which there is a little hot fat. This latter 
method is often called sauteing. 

The object of frying is quickly to form a crisp, 
brown crust round the oyster, croquette, doughnut 
or whatever is being cooked, which will not allow 
the flavour and constituents of the food to escape 
into the fat,' nor the fat to penetrate into the food. 
Provided this is accomplished, frying is an entirely 
defensible mode of cooking, but imperfectly done 
it is a particularly unwholesome method. 

The temperature of the fat is the point for chief 
concern. If it is much below 380°, it will soak into 
the articles put into it, and the result will be food 
which is unpleasant to look at and hurtful to eat. 
If the temperature of the fat is much above 380°, 
food put into it will become almost instantly dark 
and hard. 

Fat at the right temperature for frying is per- 
fectly still and smokes a very little. An inch cube 
of bread dropped into it will become brown in one 
minute. 



176 HOUSEKEEPING 

Articles which are to be fried should be as dry 
as possible because water lowers the temperature 
of the fat and makes it sputter. They should also 
not be very cold as this likewise cools the fat. 

Lard, suet, drippings, olive oil and combinations 
of these things are used for frying because they can 
be raised to a very high temperature. We cannot 
fry in water because it can never be made hot enough 
to crisp anything. Fried articles must be carefully 
drained, it is well if they can be laid on a paper 
or a netting for this purpose. 

Roasting. — Roasting, strictly speaking, is now 
rarely done. It is the method of cooking joints of 
meat by hanging them before an open fire. Roast- 
ing done in the oven is really a form of baking. The 
process requires a very hot oven that the outside 
of the meat may be incrusted with melted fat and 
albumen which will keep the juices inside. Meat 
for roasting is first rubbed with flour and salt; the 
salt starts the juices, the flour combines with them 
and helps in the incrusting just mentioned. It is 
well to put a few spoonfuls of drippings or some 
fat from the meat into the pan, for this, as we 
have noted, becomes hotter than water. If the piece 
of meat is very large, or requires thorough cooking 
as in the case of pork and veal, water may be put 



COOKING 177 

in the pan as soon as the outside is incrusted. This 
will reduce the temperature and make the roasting 
slower and more thorough. It is most satisfactory 
to have d rack in the roasting pan, that the meat 
may stand over, not in, the water. 

Roasting meat must be often ''basted," that is, 
spoonfuls of the hot fat or water in the pan must 
be poured over the meat now and again to keep 
the outside from hardening and charring. The 
occasional opening of the oven door for this purpose 
also lets fresh air into the oven and thus improves 
the flavour of the meat. 

Baking.— Because we have come to use the word 
which meant cooking meat before the fire for cook- 
ing it in the oven, we more usually apply the word 
baking to the cooking of bread, cake, vegetables, 
puddings and the many other things which we cook 
by shutting them up in the dry heat of the oven. 
None of these articles require as high a temperature 
as meat. You cannot bear to put your hand into 
an oven which is ready for a roast of meat; in an 
oven ready for bread you can hold your hand a min- 
ute or two. The reason for this is that the juices 
and steam are to be kept inside meat, but the gases 
in bread are to be let out, the crust must not there- 
fore harden at once. One of the things which must 



178 HOUSEKEEPING 

be guarded against when baking bread in a gas 
range is the danger of having the oven so hot at first 
that a hard crust is formed on the bread before the 
crumb is sufficiently baked. 

It is not always possible to regulate the heat of 
the oven with dampers. Should this be the case 
and the oven is too hot at the top, lay a paper or a 
pie-plate over the article which is baking. If it is 
too hot on the bottom set the pan containing the food 
on an oven rack or on an inverted pie-plate. While 
bread or cake are baking the oven door should only 
be opened when necessary and then quickly closed, 
for cold air sometimes ruins such things. 

Things which are merely to be browned are set 
on a grate near the top of the oven. Things large 
or thick, which are to be baked through slowly are 
set on the bottom of the oven. Some substances 
dry a good deal during the process of baking; such 
are breads, cakes and puddings. The pans or 
dishes for such articles must be greased. Tins for 
cakes which require long baking are often lined with 
stiff greased paper, as this makes it more certain 
that the cake will not stick to the pan. 

A housewife should have a standard cook book 
to refer to for the details of cooking. Besides this, 
it is well for her to gather from books and magazines 



COOKING 179 

serviceable receipts and suggestions about house- 
hold matters. These may be copied into an indexed 
blank book, though I believe something in the nature 
of a card catalogue would be better for the purpose. 

2. THE PREPARATIONS 

Food usually needs some preparation for the 
processes of cooking. Though it requires nothing 
more, it is almost invariably first washed in clean, 
fresh water. 

Meat. — Fresh meat should be rinsed quickly in 
cold water. Meat which has been smoked or salted 
often needs scrubbing with a brush as well as rinsing, 
and salt meat frequently requires to be soaked for 
several hours. 

Poultry. — ^Poultry is usually sent to the market 
killed and plucked, and is sometimes "drawn" 
before it is sent from the market to the buyer. In 
country places it is often brought to the housewife 
alive and though this has inconveniences it has 
also the great advantage that the poultry can then 
be drawn immediately after it is killed, which seems 
the more clean and more reasonable method. 

To the housewife who finds herself in the pre- 
dicament of having a live chicken when she needs 



180 HOUSEKEEPING 

a dead one, I can say from experience that beheading 
is the least offensive method for the unskilled to 
employ. Use a sharp axe or hatchet and strike hard. 
Do not be distressed by the convulsive movements 
which follow, they do not indicate suffering. They 
happen because the intense throbbing thing, we call 
life cannot be snuffed out like a candle. Even in 
a small creature it is a tremendous rush and swirl 
which cannot be stopped on the instant. This is 
a piece of work which it is not necessary for a house- 
keeper to learn to do; she need only know that she 
can do it if she must. I have found in my own 
housekeeping that it is more economical to hire my 
neighbour, black Caroline to kill the chickens, because 
she can walk out of the kitchen door with two chick- 
ens in her hand, kill them, and come back again 
without interrupting the camp-meeting hymn she 
is singing and I am afraid I must admit that I cannot 
do the same thing without shivering and tears. 

A few minutes after the poultry is killed it should 
be plucked. Some people scald it to make the 
feathers come out more easily; others, on reasonable 
grounds, heartily disapprove of this performance 
and insist on "dry picking." Hold the fowl by the 
feet and pull the feathers out toward the head, 
unless the skin proves to be very tender; in that case 



COOKING 181 

pull the other way. Carefully remove all the little 
black pin-feathers. Put a screw of paper on the 
stove, light it and singe the chicken quickly to remove 
hairs and down. If the head has not previously 
been removed, cut it off about an inch from the 
body. Just below where the neck and body join 
you will feel through the skin a rough movable lump. 
This is the crop and should be removed by loosening 
the skin from the neck and drawing up the crop 
between the two. Cut it off close to the body. 
Cut off the legs at the joint and cut out a little oil 
bag which you will find on top of the tail. 

When chickens are split down the back for broil- 
ing, or cut into pieces for fricasseeing or frying, it 
is a simple matter to remove the internal organs. 
If, however, they must be drawn for roasting, it takes 
some skill to do it. It is an assistance to remember 
that the organs lie more or less bound together in 
the cavity of the body, somewhat as the seeds lie 
in the cavity of a cantaloupe. The organs should 
be disordered as little as possible in the removal, 
as some of them, notably the gall-bag of the liver, 
contain substances which affect the taste of the 
meat if they touch it. As the chicken lies breast up, 
make a short crosswise slit in it a little distance 
from the tail. Put one or two fingers into this open- 



182 HOUSEKEEPING 

ing keeping them close to the walls of the cavity, 
and gently loosen the organs, gradually working 
them out at the slit. Some strength is needed for 
this, but it should be applied gently. 

Be sure that all the organs are removed, then 
wash the fowl under the faucet or in a pan of 
cold water. Wipe it dry with a clean cloth. The 
washing should be done with especial thoroughness 
if the fowl has remained long undrawn. 

Carefully separate the heart, liver and gizzard 
from the other organs. Cut the veins from the 
heart. Trim the fat from the gizzard, cut a slit 
in the thick part and draw the slit open; the inner 
lining must be removed, unbroken if possible. Wash 
these giblets carefully, put them at once on the fire 
in cold water and simmer until tender. 

Eggs. — ^Eggs should be washed when they are 
brought into the house; the shells are then clean to 
be used for clearing coffee or soup. 

When preparing eggs for cooking, do not break 
them one after another into the bowl in which they 
are to be beaten, but put each one into a cup and 
them slip it into the bowl. If this precaution is 
not taken, an egg unfit for use may be dropped into 
a bowl with several fresh ones and all will be wasted. 

Some people separate the white of an Qgg from 



COOKING 183 

the yolk by cracking a small piece from one end and 
pouring out the white, leaving the yolk in the shell 
until last; others break the egg through the middle 
by striking it on the edge of the cup and pass the 
yolk back and forth from one half-shell to the other 
until all the white has run into the cup. Whatever 
method is used, care must be taken that no yolk 
runs into the white as this prevents the white from 
frothing. It is on this account that the whites and 
yolks are beaten separately when we want eggs 
especially frothy. Eggs also froth better when they 
are very cold. 

They are beaten before they are used because we 
sometimes wish to put air into a mixture by this 
means. 

Fish. — Large fish are usually prepared and sold 
in pieces by the fish dealer. Small fish are usually 
left whole and should be cleaned as soon as possible 
after they are bought. First remove the scales by 
scraping them toward the head with the back of a 
knife. Hold the knife flat that it may slip under the 
scales. Have a pan of cold water at hand in which 
to rinse the knife frequently. Cut off the head just 
below the gills. Slit the body at the thinner edge 
and remove the entrails. Run the point of the knife 
along the backbone to remove the blood which lies 



184 HOUSEKEEPING 

there. Cut off the tail last, as it is a convenient 
handle. Shad containing roe must be slit very 
carefully, that the roe may not be cut or broken. 
Fish which are to be served with heads and tails 
on are slit from the gills half way down the body 
and the entrails removed as before described. 

After fish are cleaned, wash them carefully in cold 
water — some people prefer to use salted water — then 
salt inside and out and lay them on a plate in a cool 
place — ^not the refrigerator — until it is time to 
cook them. Wash off the salt and season them 
again before cooking. 

If a piece of fish which is to be boiled is wrapped 
in a thin cloth the motion of the water will not 
break it. 

Shell-Fish. — Receipts for cooking oysters or clams 
which begin, "Open the oysters" — or "Take two 
dozen clams from the shells" — are rather amusing 
when one remembers what an exaggerated pleasure 
in retirement these creatures take. They do not 
open their shells when one reads a receipt at them. 

Oysters. — When oysters are cooked in their shells 

heat opens them; otherwise, some one must open 

them by hand. A small thin knife with an iron 

handle is best for this work. The hand in which 

. the oyster is held should be protected with a heavy 



COOKING 185 

glove or mitten. If you can find no place where 
the thin point of the knife can be pushed between 
the shells, rap the edge of the oyster with the handle 
of the knife until some little crack is made into which 
the point can be thrust, then gently but firmly work 
the shells apart. Put the oysters into a bowl. The 
opening should be as cleanly a performance as pos- 
sible, for the oysters are the better for not being 
washed. Instead of washing them, lift them one 
or two at a time from one bowl to another, looking 
them over carefully for any bits of shell. It is better 
to wash them if they have not been opened in the 
house. If oysters are to be cooked or served in their 
shells, the shells must be thoroughly scrubbed. 

Clams. — Clams, whether thin shell, or hard shell, 
should be scrubbed, rinsed, and laid in a pot with 
not more than a half-cupful of water. Not more, 
because the juice from the clams should be diluted 
as little as possible. Cover the pot closely. As 
soon as the shells open the clams are cooked. When 
hard shell clams are taken from the shells, clip off 
with scissors the hard rim from each one. The 
clam juice should be saved and put aside to settle, 
the clear liquor can then be poured off. It is used 
to some extent in nearly all dishes made from clams. 

If an oyster or a clam has its shells open, pick 



186 HOUSEKEEPING 

it up in your hand. If it closes it is all right, if it 
remains open throw it away for it is dead. Only 
death prevents these creatures from shutting their 
doors. 

Scallops. — Scallops as we see them on the table 
or as they come prepared from the market, are really 
the muscles of the scallop which hold its shells 
together. Whole scallops are boiled and the muscle 
removed when the shells open. 

Lobsters. — ^Lobsters are sometimes bought alive, 
sometimes already boiled. They are not exactly 
green or brown or blue when alive, but are bright 
red when cooked. A boiled lobster is opened by 
splitting the body and tail lengthwise and cracking 
the claws. The firm white and red meat and a bit 
called the "coral" are the parts to be eaten. The 
head, a sand-pouch near the throat, the stomach 
and intestines and the tough, feathery gills on the 
under side of the body must not be used. 

Crabs. — Hard shell crabs are cooked by plunging 
them into salted boiling water for fifteen or twenty 
minutes. They change in colour as lobsters do. 
If you wish to open them, first remove the little flap 
which folds down on the under shell, then, placing 
your thumbs at the place where the flap was fastened 
on, draw the upper and lower shells apart. A little. 



COOKING 187 

grayish sand pocket sometimes adheres to one shell, 
sometimes to the other. This and the gray, spongy 
fingers attached to the lower shell should be removed 
and thrown away. 

Before soft shell crabs are cooked, the sand- 
pocket and spongy substances under the edges of 
the shell should be removed. The upper shell is 
soft enough to be turned back for this purpose. 

Vegetables. — Almost without exception, vegetables 
are prepared for cooking by being washed and laid 
in cold water to be freshened. Some kinds require 
no other preparation; others must be also scraped 
or peeled or shelled or husked. 

Those vegetables which require no preparation 
for cooking except washing and freshening are: 
asparagus, beets, cabbage, cauliflower, spinach and 
sweet potatoes. 

Cress, celery, endive, lettuce and radishes require 
this same preparation, but are not usually cooked. 

One must be careful not to break the skins of beets 
and not to cut their tops too close, that the juices 
may not flow out and leave the beet colourless and 
tasteless. 

Salt should be put in the water in which cabbage 
and cauliflower are freshened and the cabbage 
heads should be divided into quarters that the small 



188 HOUSEKEEPING 

insects which these vegetables are apt to contain 
may be driven out. 

The washing of spinach requires especial care. 
It is well to use two pans that the spinach may be 
lifted back and forth from one to the other and the 
sand left in the bottom of the pans, A little salt 
should be put into one of the waters to expel insects. 

Vegetables which require also to be scraped 
are, carrots, oyster plant, parsnips and new 
potatoes. 

Vegetables which require to be peeled as well as 
to be washed and freshened are: cucumbers, egg 
plant, mushrooms, onions, white potatoes, squash, 
turnips and tomatoes. 

Egg plant is sliced, but the slices are not always 
peeled. It is freshened in salted water. 

Cucumbers and tomatoes are laid in water before 
they are peeled instead of afterward. Thick pieces 
shoTild be cut from the ends and sides of cucumbers 
as the skin contains unwholesome juices. 

Onions are less unpleasant to peel if held under 
water during the process. 

Vegetables which also require shelling or husking 
are: lima beans, green peas and green corn. 

Corn silk may easily be removed from the ears 
with a brush. 



COOKING 189 

Dried beans and peas require many hours of soak- 
ing to make them ready to be cooked. 

String beans are prepared by a process peculiar 
to themselves. Some people cut a thin strip from 
each side of the pod; others cut the pointed end 
toward one side, the stem end toward the other and 
draw away the strings with the cut pieces. The 
point of importance is to get rid of the strings 
absolutely. 

Rice is prepared by thorough washing. A good 
way to accomplish this is to put the rice in a coarse 
strainer and lower it into a pan of water. Lift and 
stir the rice, then raise the strainer from the pan, 
change the water and repeat the washing process. 
Continue to repeat this until the water remains 
clear. 

Fruit and Berries. — Fruit should be washed and 
wiped dry when it is brought from the market. 
It is then ready for use in any way that may be 
desired. Thick skinned fruits such as pears and 
apples are peeled before they are cooked. Dried 
fruit is usually soaked before it is cooked. 

It is desirable that berries which come from the 
market or store should be washed. This can best be 
accomplished by putting them in a coarse sieve or 
colander and holding them under a gently running 



190 HOUSEKEEPING 

faucet. It is a good thing to spread them on a clean 
paper or cloth to dry. When berries are picked 
in the garden, one may have the luxury of eating 
them unwashed. 

Mixtures. — There are certain articles of food, 
different and differently prepared from any hitherto 
mentioned, which might be called as a class, mix- 
tures. They are dishes made by mixing several 
food substances together, and are called bread, 
cake, pudding, pastry, sauces and many other names. 

Bread. — Of these mixtures bread is the most 
important and the most difficult to make. Receipts 
for bread are the simplest ones we have, yet a detailed 
description of bread-making might easily fill a book. 
To read such a description for the first time would 
very probably shock a careful housewife. She has 
learned to protect her stores of food from any pro- 
cesses of fermentation; she regards the growth cf 
fungus in the cellar or of mould on the back of the 
refrigerator as an indication of unhealthful dampness, 
perhaps of dirt; she probably has some terror of 
germs and bacteria. Is it not rather shocking then, 
to learn that, without fermentation, fungus and bacte- 
ria, she could not make the sweet, clean bread which 
she bakes every two or three days. ^Vhen she has 
thought out these puzzling facts, she will find that 



COOKING 191 

each one of her bakings is a sermon from the text 
that all things work together for good if one knows 
the secret of their use. 

Yeast is a form of bacteria — a germ — a micro- 
scopic fungus which floats about in the air. I find 
that a Government Report on the subject calls this 
"wild yeast." One cannot resist following out the 
idea thus suggested, and saying that this wild species 
may be caught by the housewife in mixtures of warm 
hops, potato and flour and "domesticated" for use 
in bread making. 

The little yeast plants multiply quickly when they 
find something which they like to feed upon, and it 
happens that they like a mixture of flour and water 
which is neither very hot nor very cold. There- 
fore, when we put yeast into dough the little plants 
feed and multiply and in doing so change the charac- 
ter of the dough. They cause it to ferment, just as 
grape or apple juice ferments. When the carbo- 
hydrate substances in the flour, that is, the starches 
and sugars, ferment they change, and in the change 
form alcohol and carbon dioxide. When this per- 
formance is at its height, we put the dough into the 
oven, the yeast plant is killed by the heat and a stop 
thus put to its activities. Another result of putting 
the bread into the oven is that the bubbles of gas 



192 HOUSEKEEPING 

formed by fermentation expand with the heat. The 
gas escapes, but not before the walls of the bubbles 
have been hardened sufficiently by heat to make the 
bread full of tiny holes — "porous" we call it, and 
"light." 

The following receipt is a usual one for a small 
batch of bread: 

2 quarts of flour. 1 half cake of yeast soaked in a 

1 tablespoonful of salt. cup of milk. 

1 " " sugar. 2 cups of milk or water. 

1 " " lard. 

The sugar and the lard are not necessary to bread 
making but are frequently used; the lard because 
it makes bread tender and moist, the sugar to take 
the place of some of the sugar in the flour which is 
used up in fermentation. 

Without the other four ingredients, flour, salt, 
"wetting" and yeast, we could not have bread. 

The yeast is either a little compressed cake of 
useful bacteria, or it is a liquid in which this bac- 
teria has congregated. 

The flour is a nourishing but unattractive substance 
which we wish the yeast plant to change into spongy, 
pleasant-flavoured, digestible food. 

The salt assists in making the pleasant flavour 
and also helps to prevent fermentation from going 



COOKING 193 

beyond the desired point. Unless the fermenta- 
tion of bread stops at the right time, changes occur 
in the dough like those which take place in milk 
when it sours, and in cider when it turns to vinegar. 

Milk or water are necessary to give the flour the 
moist consistency which is agreeable to the growth 
of yeast plants. It is sometimes necessary to heat 
the "wetting" a little, for the temperature of the 
dough to be favourable to the activity of the yeast 
must be not less than 70° F. nor more than 90° F. 

Directions for mixing bread frequently tell you 
to "set a sponge." This is done by mixing all the 
ingredients except the flour, and then stirring into 
them just enough flour to make a thick batter. This 
mixture is set in a temperature between 70° and 90° 
and allowed to ferment. The "sponge" is a more 
watery mixture than dough and in it the yeast 
has an especially easy opportunity to develop. The 
setting of a sponge also serves as a test of the yeast. 
If the yeast does not greatly increase the quantity 
of the sponge and make it full of bubbles, it will 
not be strong enough to affect the stiffer dough. 

When the sponge has increased to about twice its 
size in the beginning, enough flour is stirred in to 
make kneading possible. The object of kneading 
is that the yeast may be distributed through the flour 



194 HOUSEKEEPING 

so evenly that its effect upon all parts of the dough 
will be the same. 

After the kneading the bread is "set to rise," 
that is it is put in a comfortably warm place, out of 
the way of draughts, and left while the yeast plants 
multiply and ferment the bread. 

When the dough has increased to about twice 
its original size, it is kneaded a little more, chiefly 
to break the bigger bubbles which would make holes 
in the bread. It is then moulded into loaves and 
rolls and set to rise again, this last because in the 
moulding it has acquired a little more flour and its 
sponginess has been somewhat compressed. It is 
finally baked, as has been said, to stop fermentation 
and preserve the porous character of the bread. 
Baking also forms the pleasant-flavoured crust. 

A person of inquiring mind may observe in the 
table of food values given in the previous chapter 
that the nourishing constituents are greater in quan- 
tity in flour than, with a slight exception in fat and 
ash, they are in bread. The natural question will 
then be, why take all this trouble to cultivate yeast 
plants in flour when the result furnishes less nour- 
ishment than flour.? Why not mix flour and water 
and bake it.? This would be "unleavened bread" 
which is somewhat like crackers, somewhat like 



COOKING 195 

macaroni, both of which register higher in nourishing 
constituents than bread. Nevertheless, they do not 
serve our purpose as well as bread, because they 
are much more hard to digest and more quickly 
create distaste. The body must not only have 
nourishment supplied to it, it must have it supplied 
in forms which it can use without serious difficulty. 
It is quite possible, therefore, to obtain more actual 
nourishment from digestible, appetizing bread which 
contains a smaller per cent, of nutriment, than from 
a crude and insipid flour mixture which contains 
a greater per cent. 

Cake. — There are other methods of making food 
"light" besides putting yeast into it. Two of these 
are commonly used in making cake and fancy 
breads. Sponge cakes are made light by beating 
air into the eggs used. Cakes which contain butter, 
and breads which contain no yeast are made light 
with baking powder, which is a mixture of soda and 
cream of tartar, or with soda and cream of tartar put 
in separately. Soda is an alkali; cream of tarter is 
an acid. A combination of the two liberates carbonic 
acid gas to raise the cake and also counteracts the 
poisonous properties of the soda. Three rounded 
teaspoonfuls of baking powder produce the same 
effect as one level teaspoonful of soda and two 



198 HOUSEKEEPING 

rounded teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar. Therefore, 
if a receipt calls for soda and cream of tartar and 
we have only baking powder, or vice versa, we may 
use one for the other if we remember this equality. 

One frequently finds soda and not cream of tartar 
called for in receipts in which sour milk or molasses 
is required. In such cases the acid in the milk 
or in the molasses will take the place of that usually 
furnished by cream of tartar. Soda and cream of 
tartar, or baking powder, should be put into the 
flour before it is sifted, they are thus thoroughly 
mixed with it and also sifted. 

The ingredients of fancy breads and cake must 
be mixed in ways which will not interfere with the 
means by which they are made light. 

It is usually a good plan when mixing muffins, 
gems, Sally Lunn or anything of the kind which does 
not require kneading, to put all the dry ingredients 
together in one bowl, all the wet ones together in 
another bowl, then to stir the wet ones into the dry 
ones and if there are eggs in the mixture fold in the 
beaten whites last. 

Whites of eggs are nearly always the last thing 
to be put into any mixture, because if they are moved 
about more than is necessary to get them in, much 
of the air in them will be lost. 



COOKING 197 

The ingredients of cake are usually mixed in the 
following order: butter and sugar beaten together 
to a creamy consistency; beaten yolks of eggs; milk 
or water and flavouring; flour and baking powder; 
whites of eggs. 

The order for mixing a sponge cake is the same 
except that some of the ingredients mentioned in 
this list will be omitted. 

The reason that flour is put in last, or next to the 
last, is that it contains the baking powder or the soda 
and cream of tartar. When these substances are 
wet they give off gas which is to make the cake light, 
therefore they should not be wet until just before the 
cake is ready for the oven. 

Fruit is put into a cake last of all. It is floured 
before it is put in to keep the pieces from sticking 
together, and to keep the moisture they contain 
from injuring the cake. 

Because the lightness of cake depends upon bub- 
bles of air or gas which in the course of time collapse, 
cake batter should be baked as soon as mixed. That 
this may be possible, the fire should be put into 
suitable condition and the untensils and materials 
gathered and prepared before the mixing begins. 

Pastry. — Pastry mixtures differ from bread or 
cake mixtures in that they are flaky instead of spongy. 



198 HOUSEKEEPING 

Things flake when they are composed of layers; 
the point then is to make pastry by a process which 
will produce layers. When a smooth dough has 
been made of flour, salt and cold water, it is rolled 
lightly to a thin sheet, tiny pieces of butter are scat- 
tered over it and a very little flour sprinkled on it. 
The sheet is then doubled, rolled to the former thick- 
ness, butter and flour are applied to it as before and 
it is again doubled. This is repeated several times. 
When it is finally ready for the oven it is in layers 
of dough and butter. When the heat of the oven 
melts the butter and expands the air between the 
layers, they separate a little, that is, they flake. 

By means of this theory of pastry one can better 
understand the directions given in pastry receipts. 
For example, the ingredients must be kept cold that 
the butter and dough may not combine during the 
rolling. The pastry must be handled lightly and 
never pressed or pounded because this would press 
out the air and crush the layers into each other. 

The filling of pies sometimes presents difficulties. 
A very juicy filling soaks the under crust. One 
remedy used for this is to bake the bottom crust 
before filling the pie; another is to brush it over 
with white of egg. The very best way to prevent 
the under crust of a pie from being soggy and indi- 



COOKING 199 

gestible is not to have one. Put the fruits into a 
fairly deep baking-dish and cover it with a flaky 
top crust. This is an English method which we 
should do well to follow. The result is more fruit 
and less crust, and none of that under crust which 
whatever pains you take will more or less relapse into 
dough. 

Juicy pies must not be filled quite full, that they 
may not boil over in the oven. Openings cut in 
the crust help to prevent this; an inverted tea cup 
put into a deep pie is also a preventive. I am 
told that if the top crust is just laid over the pie 
and not fastened at the edges, the juice of the filling 
is less apt to run out. 

3. THE SEQUENCE 

Going into the kitchen to make one dish; or 
getting a supper for which much of the food has been 
previously prepared, gives no suggestion of one of 
the chief diflBculties in getting meals. This diffi- 
culty is the sequence of work. Unless thoughtful 
and orderly arrangements are made, one dish will 
be done too early, another too late, the cook may 
find she is required to perform two pieces of work 
at once and the last moments before the meal will 



200 HOUSEKEEPING 

be crowded with more things than can possibly be 
done. 

The time required to cook different articles of 
food often furnishes a sort of schedule for getting 
the meal. Additional time must be allowed, how- 
ever, for preparations before cooking and for finish- 
ing touches after cooking. 

Except when a gas range is used the fire is the 
first thing to attend to. 

The other things to be arranged for naturally 
fall into three groups with intervals between in which 
work may be done which does not have to be timed. 

The first group contains things which take long 
to cook, such as baked and boiled meats, oatmeal, 
some puddings, old vegetables, and vegetables which 
are cooked slowly like stewed tomatoes, These 
things are prepared and put on the fire as soon as 
the fire is ready for them. 

Between this and the second group is an interval 
which may be used for preparing the second group 
and for setting the table, arranging salad, putting 
dishes to warm, etc. Sometimes a dessert has to 
be prepared in this interval, in that case the food of 
the second group may have to be made ready and 
the table set at the very beginning of things, before 
the fire is looked after. 



COOKING 201 

The second group contains vegetables and desserts 
which cook in from thirty to forty-five minutes, 
soup which is to be warmed, eggs which are to be 
boiled hard to accompany vegetables, anything 
which takes a half or three-quarters of an hour to 
cook or which is needed in the concluding prepara- 
tions of the other food. 

After this second group is on the fire comes another 
interval in which things may be done which were 
left over from the other interval and in which cold 
food such as bread, butter and milk may be put on 
the table. In this time also preparation must be 
made for the cooking necessary to the third group. 
Some of these are, mixing thickening for gravy, 
shelling hard-boiled eggs for spinach, and collecting on 
the kitchen table seasonings, butter and milk for 
the cooked vegetables and meat. 

The third group contains things which must be 
done a very brief time before the meal. These are 
broiling meat, preparing cooked vegetables for the 
table, making sauces and gravy, putting beaten egg 
or vermicelli in soup and getting everything arranged 
in dishes. 

Then there are three last things for the housewife 
to do before the meal : to see that the fire is in condi- 
tion to leave, that soiled pots and pans are filled 



202 HOUSEKEEPING 

with water, and last of all to take an instant to wash 
her hands, remove her apron and make herself tidy. 

There are one or two ways in which preparations 
for meals may be simplified. For any large meal 
but especially for dinner served late in the day, 
as many preparations as may be, should be made 
in the morning or at luncheon time. When making 
the menu for a meal do not select things which con- 
flict; for instance, a roast of meat and a delicate 
pudding cannot be baked at the same time. Like- 
wise, it is inconvenient, not to say unappetizing to 
have the meat and vegetables and dessert for a meal 
all boiled or all baked or all fried. Try not to have 
two things for the same meal which will be spoiled 
if they are not served the instant they are cooked. 

At the end of this chapter about food, I have the 
desire to put a little verse which often runs in my 
head when I am getting meals. 

"Though o'er the hoard the constellations shine^ 
Austere the feast for time's retainers spread; 
Laughter the salt of life, and love the wine. 
Sleep the sweet herbs, and work the hitter bread." 



A TIME TABLE 



Method. 



Hours. 



Minutes. 



Asparagus 

Beans, lima 

Beans, string . . . . 

Beef 

Beefsteak 

Beef, corned 

Beets, young 

Beets, old 

Bread, wheat . . . . 

Bread, corn 

Bread, brown. . . . 

Cabbage 

Cauliflower 

Caie, sponge . . . . 

Cake, plain 

Cake, fruit 

Cake, layer 

Carrots 

Chicken 

Chicken 

Chicken 

Celery 

Chops 

Cookies 

Corn 

Custard 

Duck 

Dumpling, apple . 

Eggs, soft 

Eggs, hard 

Eggs. 

Fish, boiled or. . . 

Fish 

Gingerbread 

Ham 

Hominy 

Lamb 

Mutton, boiled or 

Macaroni 

MuflBns 

Mushrooms 



boiled 

boiled 

boiled 

roasted 

broiled 

boiled 

boiled 

boiled 

baked 

baked 

steamed 

boiled 

boiled 

baked 

baked 

baked 

baked 

boiled 

roasted 

broiled 

boiled 

boiled 

broiled 

baked 

boiled 

baked 

roasted 

boiled 

boiled 

boiled 

fried 

baked 

fried 

baked 

boiled 

boiled 

roasted 

roasted 

boiled 

baked 

broiled 



3-4 
3^ 



2-3 



1-0 
1-0 



1-0 



20-30 
45-60 
45-60 
12 per lb. 
6-10 
20 per lb. 
45-60 



40-60 
40-45 



15-35 
20-35 
45-60 
30-40 

io-is 

35-45 
20 per lb. 
20 

15-20 per lb. 
20-30 
6-10 
10-15 
12-20 
15-20 



3 
15-20 

5 

10-15 per lb. 
10-20 
20-30 
25 per lb. 



15-20 per lb. 

15-20 per lb. 

20-30 

15-30 

12 



S03 



S04 



HOUSEKEEPING 



Method. 


Hours. 


Minutes. 


stewed 




20 


boiled 




45-60 


fried 




S-5 


boiled 




45-60 


boiled 


1-0 




boiled 




30-45 


roasted 




30 per lb. 


broiled 




20 


boiled 




25-30 


baked 




45 


boiled 




20-30 


boiled 




20-40 


fried 




10-15 


boiled 




30-45 


boiled 




25-35 


stewed 


1-0 




roasted 




20 per lb. 


boiled 




45 


roasted 




20 per lb 



Mushrooms 

Onions 

Oysters, broiled or. 

Oyster plant 

Oatmeal 

Parsnips 

Pork 

Pork 

Potatoes 

Potatoes 

Peas 

Rice 

Sausage 

Spinach 

Squash 

Tomatoes 

Turkey, boiled or 

Turnips 

Veal 



WEIGHTS AND MEASURES 



S teaspoonfuls, dry = 1 tablespoonful. 

4 teaspoonfuls, liquid = 1 tablespoonful. 

4 tablespoonfuls, liquid = 1 wineglassful = J gill. 

2 vvineglassfuls, liquid = 1 gill = i cup. 
16 tablespoonfuls, liquid = 2 gills =1 cup. 
12 rounded tablespoonfuls, dry = 1 cup. 

^ pint, liquid = 1 cup. 

4 wineglasses = 1 cup 

J lb. of flour = 1 cup 

1 lb. granulated sugar = 1 cup. 
i lb. butter, solid = 1 cup. 

4 gills = 1 pint. 

2 cups = 1 pint. 
2 pints = 1 quart 

4 quarts = 1 gallon. 

n 

1 tablespoonful, heaped, granulated sugar = 1 oiinoet 

1 tablespoonful, rounded, butter ^^ 1 ounce. 

1 tablespoonful, liquid = i ounce. 

1 tablespoonful, rounded, flour = i ounce. 

1 tablespoonful, rounded, coffee = ^ ounce. 

1 tablespoonful, rounded, powdered sugar = i ounoc 
16 ounces = 1 pound. 

4 cups of flour = 1 pound = 1 quart. 

2 cups butter, solid =■ 1 pound. 

2 cups granulated sugar =^ 1 pound. 
2J cups powdered sugar = 1 pound. 

2 cups or 1 pint water or milk = 1 pound. 

1 pint chopped meat, solid = 1 pound. 
10 eggs = 1 pound. 



d05 



XIII 

WASHING AND IRONING 

THE day when we wear paper clothes and 
rarely wear them twice has not yet come. 
Meanwhile washing and ironing must be 
done, either in the home or elsewhere. Even when 
this work has been banished to a laundry or a house 
on a back street, it is yet desirable to have some 
knowledge of its processes, that when something 
goes wrong we may be able to tell what the trouble is. 
The laundry, like the kitchen, should be light 
coloured, cleanly, orderly and furnished only with 
articles needed for the work. I was taken in to see a 
laundry not long ago which had pale green walls and 
two sunny windows. It contained appliances for the 
work, a substantial laundress and a highly coloured 
picture of the Madonna. There was also a cricket, 
not the kind you sit on, but the kind that chirps. 

1. APPLIANCES 

As the appliances for washing and ironing are 
many, and some of them for uses not entirely obvious, 

206 



WASHING AND IRONING 207 

a list with a few comments on each item may be 
useful. 

Tubs. — Two are needed, tliree are more con- 
venient. When the washing is finished, the tubs 
should be scrubbed, rinsed and dried before the 
covers are closed. Portable wooden tubs also need 
scrubbing and rinsing, but must not be allowed 
to get very dry. If they are kept in a warm, dry 
place, put a little clean water into each one. When 
allowed to dry, the staves shrink and the tubs leak. 
That tubs are called portable does not mean they 
should be carried. About one woman in a dozen 
is really able to carry a tub with water in it. It is 
not the weight but the attitude in which one is 
compelled to lift it that makes the trouble. If 
there is no one to help to carry the tub, empty it by 
the pailful; it takes less time than being laid up 
with a strain. 

A ivashhoard. — Washboards are made of cor- 
rugated glass or metal and wood. They should be 
rinsed when the rubbing is finished and kept dry 
when not in use. Before putting the board into 
the tub, see that it has no rough or sharp places 
which may tear clothes or hands. 

A washhoiler and a ivashstick. — Keep the boiler 
scrupulously dry when not in use. A speck of rust 



208 HOUSEKEEPING 

the size of a pinhead can make serious trouble. 
The stick is a fairly long, smooth, clean one with 
which to move and lift scalding hot clothes. 

A wringer. — Rinse and dry it carefully before 
putting it away. At some other time than in the 
midst of washing, it is well to study out the con- 
trivance which regulates the width of the opening 
between the rollers, that one may be able to change 
it easily and quickly for the wringing of thick or thin 
articles. The opening should be narrow enough to 
make turning the handle quite active exercise, but 
wide enough to prevent any wrenching or dragging 
of wringer or clothes. 

A clothesline. — A length of clean rope which 
can be put up and taken down each time it is needed 
is probably the most satisfactory clothes line. Per- 
manent lines of twisted wire are good, if one may 
have permanent lines. These must be wiped with 
a damp cloth before the clothes are hung out. This 
rule also holds good for any line which is left out in 
the weather, but rope lines should not be left out if 
it can be avoided, for they soon become blackened and 
sodden. When buying a clothesline, see that it 
is not too thick nor too thin for average clothes- 
pins. 

Clothespins. — These must be kept clean, either 



WASHING AND IRONING 209 

by frequently getting new ones, or by scrubbing the 
old ones, and also by keeping them, when not in 
use, in a covered box or basket. 

Clothes poles. — These are sticks eight or ten 
feet long, and notched deeply in one end. WTien the 
line sags between its supports with the weight of 
the clothes, it is raised with one of the poles. The 
notch holds the line and the other end rests on the 
ground. 

A clothes basket. — This article is used for 
carrying clothes from place to place. If it is used 
only for purposes connected with washing and 
ironing it will remain for a longer time fit for those 
purposes. 

A laundry stove. — This stove is not necessary 
when the washing and ironing are done in the 
kitchen, yet it is more convenient to have one if 
the size of the kitchen permits. Set on its top, 
the wash-boiler is at a convenient height; irons heat 
more evenly upon it, and are not in danger of being 
splashed from the cooking. 

An ironing board. — This appliance is frequently 
wider at one end than at the other, because the 
width of the larger end is convenient to iron on, 
and the narrowness of the other end is easily put 
through the top of a skirt or other garment which 



210 HOUSEKEEPING 

is slipped over the board for ironing. The board 
is first padded with several thicknesses of blanket 
or felt stretched smooth; a clean, white cotton cloth 
is then stretched over it and sewed or tacked very 
neatly along one edge and at the ends. All the 
coverings must be stretched and fastened very tightly 
to prevent v^rrinkles which would mark the clothes. 
The padding keeps the edges of the board from 
cutting through or marking the clothes, it fur- 
nishes a smooth, elastic surface for the sliding 
movement of the iron, and it makes it possible to 
iron embroidery, lace or tucks in relief, by press- 
ing them into the padding with the iron. 

Some boards are made with folding legs which 
are a convenience if substantial and well braced. 
Besides a large board, it is well to have a small 
bosom board; they are not merely for shirts but 
are convenient also for ironing small articles at 
other times than on a regular ironing day. A sleeve 
board is likewise a helpful addition to the laundry 
fittings. 

Irons. — To do a family ironing at least six irons 
are needed. Do not keep them on a stove with fire 
in it except when they are in use. They are spoiled 
by being constantly heated and cooled, and they get 
dirty. Water is not good for them. If they are 



WASHING AND IRONING 211 

splashed or smoked they must be washed, but it is 
better not to wash them regularly. Cooling a very 
hot iron by immersing it in a pail of water is bad 
for the iron, and is a careless practice besides; it 
is rectifying a neglect with a violent remedy. 

If irons are rough or troublesome about stick- 
ing, scrape and wipe them clean, then rub their 
bottoms and sides with a piece of beeswax tied in a 
cloth. In the country, rub them on a sandy place 
in the garden path. I am told that it is good — 
and pleasant — to rub them on pine-needles. When 
irons are put away, turn the bottoms up. If they 
are put away for a long time, it is well to give them 
a thin coating of beeswax. 

If you have ever seen any one test an iron with a 
wet finger to see if it is hot, you will only need the 
courage to try to be able to do it. Wet your finger 
in your mouth and strike quickly and lightly on 
the bottom of the iron ; if it — spits y to put it elegantly, 
the iron is right for average ironing. Rub it on a 
paper or a cloth and judge from the effect whether 
it is clean and of the right temperature for the 
work you are doing. 

Iron holders. — It is well to have two or three 
of these articles. Those made of asbestos covered 
with bed ticking are excellent. Even when irons 



212 HOUSEKEEPING 

have a detachable handle, an iron holder will be 
needed for a holder rests and spares the hand. 
They are sometimes made with a little pocket 
into which the ends of the fingers can be 
thrust; it is a good arrangement, for finger-ends 
have to be so near the iron that they sometimes 
get scorched. 

An iron stand. — A stand is necessary to rest the 
iron on when the laundress needs both hands to 
arrange the article she is ironing. If one is hard 
put to it for a substitute, a horse-shoe, or a piece of 
fire-brick will serve, the latter is especially good 
because it holds heat. 

A clothes horse. — The more closely it folds up and 
the more rungs it has when unfolded, the better the 
clothes horse. Its chief use is to provide a place 
close at hand where newly ironed articles may be 
hung. Such a place is necessary because the 
articles are still a trifle damp and because one does 
not wish to walk any great distance to dispose of 
each piece. 

Wax, cloths and paper. — The use of these articles 
has already been mentioned. Pieces of wax can 
be bought already covered and attached to a con- 
venient little handle. Cloths and paper come from 
the housewife's store of useful things. 



WASHING AND IRONING 213 

Soap. — From the thousands of kinds of soap one 
can only make a choice by means of personal experi- 
ment, or by accepting the recommendation of some 
one who has already experimented. The kind pre- 
ferred once settled upon, it is best to buy enough 
at a time to last several months and to keep it exposed 
to the air, for unless soap dries a little before it is 
used, it wastes. 

Many preparations are sold to whiten clothes 
and make washing easy. To use them is a risk, 
and I have yet to see one which produced even 
as good temporary results as intelligent washing 
done with good soap and followed by thorough 
rinsing. 

Starch. — Starch — the raw material — should be 
protected from dust in a closed box or jar and 
not exposed to strong light, as this in time 
makes it slightly yellow. It is on this account 
that starch boxes are frequently lined with dark 
blue paper. 

Cold starch is merely starch dissolved in cold 
water. The proportion is a tablespoonful of starch 
to a pint of water. Stir until it seems dissolved, but 
stir again before dipping each article as it settles 
quickly. This starch is used just before ironing. 
Articles starched with it should be squeezed out 



214 HOUSEKEEPING 

well and folded in a dry cloth for ten or fifteen min- 
utes, then ironed. 

To make boiled starch, moisten three table- 
spoonfuls of starch with cold water. Stir and press 
out the lumps until it is smooth as cream. Then 
begin to stir it fast and pour on quickly a quart of 
boiling water. Allow it to boil about twenty min- 
utes. Toward the end of the time put in a piece 
of spermaceti as big as a walnut and stir until it 
is mixed with the starch. Substitutes for this are a 
bit of lard or a bit of butter. When clothes come 
home smelling of kerosene, it usually indicates that 
the laundress has used a dash of that oil as a sub- 
stitute for spermaceti. If candles are used in the 
home, it is well to save the ends for the starch. Wax 
or oil added to starch makes it smooth and keeps 
it from sticking to the irons. 

Bluing. — The purpose of bluing is to give white 
clothes a bluish tinge instead of the yellowish tinge 
they are apt to acquire. Substances for the pur- 
pose can be bought in several forms and are vised 
greatly diluted. Two or three squeezes of a bluing 
ball, or a teaspoonful of liquid bluing is often a 
sufficient quantity for a tub of water. Bluing 
must be thoroughly stirred into water. If this 
is not done before clothes are put in, they will 



WASHING AND IRONING 215 

be streaked. Some people put a few drops of 
bluing in starch. 



2. THE PROCESS 

Where soiled clothes are to be kept during the 
interval between wash days is often a difficult ques- 
tion. A closet in the laundry made especially for 
the purpose is one solution; a hamper set in some 
ventilated but secluded spot in the house is another. 
It is unfortunate that often the bathroom is the 
only refuge for a clothes hamper. Articles like 
bed linen, which are only changed once a week 
should be changed as near the wash day as 
possible, but I do not think this matter so 
important that the change of linen should be 
made on Sunday. 

The first step in the process of washing is to sort 
the clothes, separating white, coloured, woollen and 
silk articles. The white division always, some- 
times the others, must be divided again into articles 
which have been put to personal uses, such as gar- 
ments, bed linen and towels, and those which have 
not, as table linen, and dish towels. 

Notice in sorting the clothes whether anything is 
stained, and if so, put it aside to be especially cared 



216 HOUSEKEEPING 

for. It is often impossible to remove stains after 
they have been soaped. 

Some people soak clothes over night; some put 
them to soak the first thing in the morning; some do 
not soak them at all. In any case, only white cotton 
or linen articles may be either soaked or boiled. 
Clothes are put for soaking into a tub of water, each 
article crushed together, not folded. They may be 
soaped or not, as one pleases. Linen which has not 
been put to personal uses should be laid in a sep- 
arate receptacle, or else not soaked. 

When the time has come to begin the washing 
let the water out of the tub in which the clothes are 
soaking, then cover them with clean, hot suds. Put 
in the wash board with its legs firmly planted against 
the side of the tub opposite to you. Soap and rub 
each article inside and out, and little or much, accord- 
ing to need. Attend especially to seams, hems and 
very soiled places. As the articles are washed, put 
each through the wringer, folding it with buttons in 
and narrow enough to go easily between the uprights 
of the wringer. Put them then either directly into 
the boiler, or into a basket which can be carried 
over to the boiler when the other pieces are ready. 
If some piece is still soiled after the rubbing, soap the 
soiled places again before putting it into the boiler. 



WASHING AND IRONING 217 

As soon as these articles of personal use are in 
the boiler, begin to wash the other white clothes in 
clean suds. Rub and wring them and put them into 
a tub of rinse water. By the time these are fin- 
ished, the clothes can be turned out of the boiler into 
the tub just emptied, and the white things in the 
rinse tub put into the boiler for their boiling. 

Rinse the boiled clothes, preferably twice, then 
prepare the bluing, put unstarched articles through it 
and lay them in the basket for hanging out. Articles 
to be starched must be left in the second rinse water 
until the starch is ready, because no clothes may 
safely lie in bluing. After being washed, rinsed, 
or blued, clothes must be well wrung, otherwise 
they will be a means of passing soapy water from one 
tub to another and will never be thoroughly rinsed. 

Intervals must be found between some of these 
performances for hanging out unstarched articles 
and for making the starch for the others. 

When the first boilerful of clothes are hung out 
or waiting to be blued, empty the second boilerful 
into the tub. Rinse as the others and when they 
are ready, blue and starch these and all that have 
been waiting. Put articles, or parts of articles, 
which are to be very stiff in the starch first. See 
that they are well wrung and shaken out beforehand 



218 HOUSEKEEPING 

and well squeezed out afterward. Dilute the starch 
a little for the pieces which are to be less stiff. If 
napery is to be slightly stiffened, put it into a tub with 
clean water and two or three large spoonfuls of 
the starch. 

When the white clothes have been hung out, wash 
the coloured things in clean suds. They are neither 
soaked, boiled, nor blued, and they should not lie 
in the wash or rinse water. Wash, rinse twice, and 
hang out at once in a shady place unless they must 
first be starched. A little starch of original thick- 
ness should be saved for the coloured clothes if 
any of them must be very stiff. Dark cambrics are 
better stiffened with gum-arabic dissolved in water, 
for they are apt to be streaked by starch. Stockings, 
unless woollen, are washed with the coloured articles. 
Colour can sometimes be set in wash material by 
soaking it in salt and water. 

Woollens are neither soaked, boiled, blued nor 
starched, nor should they ever be put into water in 
which any thing else has been washed or rinsed. 
The wash water and the rinse water for them should 
be of the same temperature and should feel neither 
warm nor cold to the hand. Wash them in suds 
made with good, white soap, and wash the white 
ones first. Shake them well before hanging them 



WASHING AND IRONING 219 

on the line and shake them every now and then 
while they are there. Do not rub woollen articles 
with soap, nor wring them with your hands or a 
wringer, nor hang them in hot sunshine or close 
to a fire. Knitted articles must not be ironed, but 
flannels, after they have dried, may be pressed with 
a very moderately heated iron. 

Silk clothes should be washed and rinsed in tepid 
water and ironed with a good iron while they are 
still wet. 

It will be found convenient to hang clothes of the 
same kind together on the lines. One of the reasons 
for this is that when they are taken down they 
are already sorted for sprinkling. Sprinkling is 
done the night before the ironing day, or early in the 
morning of that day. If the weather is very warm, 
or there is no cool place in which to keep the dampened 
clothes, it is better to sprinkle them in the morning, 
as during the night they may turn sour. 

Spread a clean dish towel or cloth on a table, 
lay the pieces on it one on top of the other and 
sprinkle water over each with your hand or a clean 
whisk. In winter it is well to use warm water for 
this. Fold large pieces into a manageable size. 
Do not put white and coloured clothes together, 
nor yet starched and unstarched articles. 



220 HOUSEKEEPING 

When all the pieces of one kind are sprinkled, 
or enough of several kinds for a roll, roll them tightly, 
turning in the sides as one does the paper round a 
package. Thin pieces require less sprinkling than 
thick ones, and folded pieces need sprinkling on 
both sides, but directions of this kind are of little 
avail, for only experiment can show you how wet 
to make each piece. If clothes are not well dam- 
pened they cannot be made smooth with the iron, 
yet they must not be so wet that they cool the irons 
and require an exceptional amount of pressing. 

As the rolls are made, lay them in the clothes 
basket. When they are all finished put a cover over 
them, lest the outermost pieces dry before the time 
comes for them to be ironed. 

Time and strength are wasted in attempts to use 
cool irons, therefore allow them time to get thor- 
oughly heated before you begin to iron. Set up the 
board in a place where it will not be in a draught, 
as this quickly cools the irons. Place the iron-stand 
at the right-hand end of the board, and with it a 
paper, a cloth and a piece of beeswax. Under the 
board spread a clean cloth, that when long pieces are 
being ironed they may rest on the cloth instead of 
on the floor. 

The order in which ironing is done k a matter 



WASHING AiN'D iRONING 221 

ot preference. Some women say, do the heaviest 
and most difficult pieces first. Others prefer to alter- 
nate the hard and easy ones. Women who do their 
housework without assistance usually make a roll 
of little unimportant things which they iron in the 
intervals of getting luncheon or of other necessary 
work. 

Large articles like tablecloths and sheets are 
folded down the middle and first ironed on one side, 
then on the other. They must be folded evenly and 
perfectly straight. Things like pillow cases, which 
cannot be slipped over the board, are also ironed 
double and on both sides. Fine pieces, such as table- 
cloths and shirtwaists, should be ironed until entirely 
dry. On the contrary, the pieces known as flat- 
work — sheets, towels, etc. — may be ironed, carefully 
folded, and allowed to dry on the clothes horse. 

The object of ironing is to make things smooth 
and the shape they are intended to be. By keep- 
ing this in mind, and taking pains to accomplish it, 
one can soon teach oneself to iron acceptably. 

S. SPECIAL WASHING 

The time and care required for washing some 
articles is so much more than can well be given 



222 HOUSEKEEPING 

them in the regular wash, that it is better not to 
attempt to do them on the wash day. Such articles 
are blankets, curtains, embroideries, lace, chamois 
gloves or any very delicate fabrics. 

Blankets are successfully washed by the method 
given previously for woollens, though the water 
used may be warm if preferred. In that case, the 
rinsing water must be equally warm. In washing 
both wool and silk it is very necessary not to change 
their temperature. 

If curtains are torn or stained, they must be 
mended, and must have the stains removed before 
they are washed. Put them in good, hot suds and 
do not rub them or wring them, or lift them heavy 
with water, but instead, pat them and knead them 
gently with your hands for a good while, then press 
as much water out of them as possible and throw them 
into rinse water. Rinse again and again until they 
do not discolour clean water. 

Bluing and starch are absorbed by lace and deli- 
cate fabrics to an unusual degree, therefore if you 
wish to use either for curtains, use very small quan- 
tities. 

When the washing is finished, put the curtains 
on stretchers. Set white curtains in the sun to dry, 
others in the shade. An expedient which may be 



WASHING AND IRONING 223 

employed if stretchers are not obtainable, is to 
pin the curtains to the carpet in a room which 
need not be used for two days. Cover the carpet 
with sheets, then stretch the curtains into shape 
and pin them down tightly. This is ^a troublesome 
method, but it produces better results than ironing. 
If curtains are washed and ironed in the way ordin- 
ary articles are done, care must be taken not to 
stretch them out of shape when they are hung on the 
clothesline. Hang them with the length of the cur- 
tain running in the same direction as the length of 
the line. 

The following is a good receipt for washing 
curtains : 

Into a pail of boiling water put one-half cup of 
kerosene, two tablespoonfuls of pearline. Stir for 
fifteen minutes. Put in the curtains, let them stand 
twenty minutes. Rinse twice in lukewarm water 
without rubbing or wringing. Rinse once in cold 
water. Blue, and starch and put on a stretcher. 

Wash embroideries in lukewarm suds made with 
white soap. Do not soap or wring them. Press 
and move them about with careful hands and only 
leave them in the water as long as is necessary. 
Rinse thoroughly and iron on the wrong side while 
still wet. Spread several thicknesses of flannel or 



224 HOUSEKEEPING 

thick folds of cotton cloth over the ironing board, 
this padding will bring the embroidery out in high 
relief. These directions apply to either silk or cotton 
embroidery with the exception that the latter, if white, 
may be soaked or hung in the sun without injury. 

If there is the slightest need, lace should be mended 
before it is washed. Precious old lace should also be 
basted on strips of muslin with a very fine needle 
and thread. 

Soak lace for a half -hour in lukewarm suds made 
with very good white soap, then press it and pat it 
and lift it up and down in the suds until you think 
it is clean. Press the water out of it between your 
hands, and rinse it several times. Then, if it is 
basted on pieces of muslin, clip the threads on the 
back of the pieces and with the utmost care separate 
lace and muslin. Pin the former out on a pillow, 
using small pins and exercising much patience. 
Every little point must be fastened down, and pins 
woven into the straight edges in the direction in 
which the edges run. Lay the pillow in the sun and 
do not remove the lace until the next day. 

If lace is to be ironed, pad the board beforehand 
in the way recommended for embroidery. Use a 
very moderate iron for the lace must slowly and 
gently be pressed into its original shape. 



WASHING AND IRONING 225 

Everybody who has read 'Xranford" remembers 
with delight that lace may be whitened by soaking 
it in milk. It may also be made tan-colour by 
dipping it in coffee or tea. The latter is better 
because it leaves no odour. A weak solution of 
gum arabic will stiffen lace when stiffness is desired. 
Starch is not usually satisfactory. 

Water in which fine fabrics are washed must 
either be soft by nature, or must be made soft with 
borax. 

Chamois gloves can be washed successfully with 
cold water and good soap. Some people recom- 
mend putting a few drops of sweet oil into the water. 
Wash them until they are clean, soaping and squeez- 
ing and rubbing them. Rinse them once. Squeeze 
them out hard and then gently stretch and press each 
glove into the shape and size it was when it was new. 
Hang them up to dry, but not in the sun, or near 
a heater, or in a place where you may forget them. 
For at least three or four times while they are drying, 
they should be again gently rubbed and stretched. 
Upon the care with which this is done, depend the 
softness and shape of the gloves. When they are 
almost entirely dry, put them on your hands, then 
take them off and again gently stretch them into 
shape. 



226 HOUSEKEEPING 

Things which may not be washed in water are 
sometimes cleaned with naphtha or with some kin- 
dred fluid. I hardly think this should be done unless 
one can do it out of doors. It is extremely danger- 
ous work, not only to oneself but to the lives and 
property of other people. 

At least try other methods before such washing 
is resorted to. More things can be washed in soap 
and water, if they are washed cleverly, than is gen- 
erally realized. Articles of delicate colour and tex- 
ture can often be dry-cleaned with potato flour, pow- 
dered French chalk, or powdered magnesia. Rub 
the flour or powder gently into the fabric, and allow 
it to remain there several hours. Then shake it out 
and repeat the process. It is also a good method 
to put the article to be cleaned into a box, powder it 
all over with one of these substances and then shut 
it up for two or three days. Several times each day 
shake the box well. 

Light coloured articles, which may not be wet, 
such as walls, furniture, rugs, fur, curtains and 
worsted shawls, may sometimes be improved by 
rubbing flour and corn meal into them and then 
shaking and brushing it out again. I am told that 
white fur can be made clean if it is rubbed with 
plaster of Paris, shaken, and then rubbed with a 



WASHING AND IRONING 227 

damp cloth. I cannot vouch for plaster of Paris, but 
I can for corn meal and flour, for with it I once 
successfully cleaned a white kitten. 

4. ALLEVIATIONS 

Housewives make various arrangements by which 
the family wash may be done with less expenditure 
of time and strength on the part of the household 
than it usually requires. Some have a woman in 
to do this work; some have the clothes washed out of 
the house and sent home rough dried for ironing; 
others send the flat pieces to a laundry and have the 
others done at home; others yet send the elaborate 
pieces out and do the flat wash in the house. A some- 
what different sort of compromise can be made if the 
woman of the house realizes that light washing is 
pleasant, skilful work. She can considerably lessen 
bills for washing and ironing if she will herself do the 
handkerchiefs, napkins, doilies, stockings, and other 
small pieces. 

5. EMERGENCIES 

A word or two may well be said in regard to a 
few of the commonest difficulties that arise in this 
work. 

A rainy or violently windy day is probably the 



228 HOUSEKEEPING 

most frequent emergency . If one has an attic or a 
cellar, temporary lines can be put up in either or both; 
if one has not, there may be room for a line or two 
in the kitchen and the clothes horse must help out. 
If there is no place where clothes can be hung in the 
house, either put the washing off, or get all the white 
clothes to the stage of the second rinsing, then put 
them into the tubs with clean water and leave them 
till the storm is over. The coloured things must 
wait, the woollens also, unless there are so few that 
they can be washed and hung up in a bedroom, 
or some equally unusual place. 

There is not much that can be done when the 
wash water is muddy. Fill as many receptacles 
with it as possible, the night before the washing day 
and in the morning pour the water off, disturbing the 
settlings as little as possible. Its muddy colour 
will remain unchanged, but it will contain less actual 
mud. 

If one makes the mistake of getting clothes too 
blue, it will save time eventually to rinse and dry 
them again. For several washings are sometimes 
not suflScient to remove colour which has been ironed 
in. 

In freezing weather, it is a good plan to have a 
short length of line on which small pieces can be 



WASHING AND IRONING 229 

pinned in the house. Line and clothes may then be 
carried out and put up at the same time, and can be 
brought in together when the pieces are dry. 

Clothes frozen to the lines are easily torn unless 
they are carefully removed. Therefore wrap up 
well before going out to do this work, that you may 
not be in a hurry. Also put on heavy gloves or 
mittens and crush the frozen corners of the clothes 
hard in your hand before trying to detach them from 
the line. 

A scorch will sometimes disappear if it is sponged 
gently with a wet cloth. To hang the scorched 
garment in strong sunshine is also a good remedy. 
Dip a serious scorch in soapsuds or borax and water 
before hanging it in the sun, if, however, the tex- 
ture of the material is injured, the misfortune can 
only be remedied with a darn or a patch. 

Sometimes starch will stick and coat the irons. 
In such a case, it is an assistance to sponge the 
starched pieces all over lightly with cold water and 
a clean cloth, and to scrape the irons thoroughly and 
rub them with beeswax. If, after this, the starch 
is still unmanageable, rinse the clothes in clear water, 
and if they are then too limp stiffen them with cold 
starch. This really takes no more time and strength 
than struggling to iron sticky clothes; it also pre- 



230 HOUSEKEEPING 

vents garments from being torn, which is an invariable 
part of the vexation and anxiety occasioned by 
starch which sticks. 

A sentence containing two words like vexation and 
anxiety may not be allowed to end a chapter. I 
will put here, instead, that well-worn reproach of 
housework, that it is ephemeral — work done merely 
to meet passing necessities. For this reproach is a 
great source of contentment in the work. Most 
thankfully I can remind myself that things over 
which I could cry with weariness to-night will not 
exist to-morrow; most thankfully I realize that this 
day's work is only one of hundreds like it, and in 
all those days, even I can learn to do the work 
acceptably. 



XIV 

HOUSE CLEANING 

JOKES about house cleaning have somewhat 
decreased in number, which makes one 
hopeful that the miseries of house clean- 
ing have also decreased. Certainly there has been 
an earnest effort on the part of many house- 
keepers to make the performance an inconspicuous 
piece of work instead of an orgy. 

House cleaning is of two classes: that which is 
done when the house is continuously occupied, and 
that which is done when a house is opened or closed 
after a season of absence or of occupation. 

For either class, a careful preparation removes 
half the difficulties and for both ample time should 
be allowed. 

One should especially beware while house cleaning 
of what Bishop Hall calls the "lust of finishing." 
Try to clean only as much each day as can be put 
back into habitable order by the time the men of 
the household come home. One room a day is all 
a woman unaided should try to do. Mankind are 

231 



232 HOUSEKEEPING 

pleased to make jokes about house cleaning and glad 
am I that they can take it that way, for really it is 
a trial of character to come home tired and hungry 
and find the house cold, the rooms in disorder and 
a picnic supper spread in the kitchen by an over- 
wrought wife. 

Preparation for either class of house cleaning 
includes, for one thing, a decision as to what renewals 
and repairs are to be made. Painting, papering, 
floor renovation, carpet and wall cleaning, uphol- 
stering and whitewashing are all matters to be de- 
cided before the cleaning begins, that they may not 
conflict, and that those which make dirt and litter 
may be done before the actual cleaning of the rooms. 

Another sort of preparation is the cleaning of 
cupboards, closets, desks, bureau drawers, book- 
cases — everything which can be tightly closed or 
covered. A little time devoted to this work every 
day for several weeks helps to make brief the period 
of necessary disorder. A day or two before a room 
is cleaned, ornaments and pictures can be taken 
down, cleaned and put away until their places are 
ready for them again. One must of course be careful 
not to remove comforts or conveniences. 

House cleaning is merely an especially thorough 
and complete periodical cleaning, such as has been 



HOUSE CLEANING 233 

described in Chapter Two, to which are added certain 
works of renovation and the packing and unpacking 
of possessions which are used only during a part of 
the year. 

Renovations. — Renovations which are made by 
professionals merely require of the housekeeper that 
she appoint a time for the workers to come, that she 
see that they do come and that they do their work 
well. 

It may happen, however, that the housewife 
wishes or is compelled to make some renovations 
herself, and though there is no way to find out 
how to do the work except by doing it, yet a few 
suggestions may help. 

Whitewashing. — The cleaning of the cellar 
usually involves whitewashing. Perhaps you think 
anybody can whitewash. Truly, anybody can, but 
often it's himself he whitewashes instead of the 
cellar. 

The amount of lime which can be bought in most 
places for ten cents will make four or five pails of 
whitewash. A friend of mine said, when I asked 
her how much lime she bought for whitewashing her 
cellar, **Oh, two lumps about as big as my head." 
When I asked, "Head with puffs or without?'* 
She changed it to, '* about half a bucketful." 



234 HOUSEKEEPING 

A firkin or a large pail which does not leak and 
which can be devoted to the purpose is needed for 
slacking the lime. Put in the lumps, then pour 
half a pail of water on them, carefully because you 
do not want to splash your surroundings with lime 
nor burn yourself. Do not be alarmed at the commo- 
tion you thus unwittingly create; when the lime has 
thumped and hissed and gurgled a few minutes, put 
on another half-pailful of water. When the lime 
gets more quiet, add water enough to fill the keg, 
and stir until it is smooth, then cover to keep out dust 
and leave it until it is cool. 

When you look at it again it will probably be 
smooth and thick like sour cream. If there is water 
on the top stir it in. Then dip out some of the lime 
into a pail and dilute it with water until it is like 
good milk. Stir it thoroughly. 

Surfaces which are to be whitewashed should be 
well brushed to remove dust and loose flakes of old 
whitewash. Apply whitewash with a broad brush 
and do not put it on very thick. It will look gray 
and unpleasant until dry. 

The whitewasher should prepare herself carefully 
for the work. Lime is injurious to clothes, shoes 
and skin. Wear old shoes and clothes which can be 
washed, and protect your head and hands. Pro- 



HOUSE CLEANING 235 

fessional whitewashers usually appear in hats or 
sunbonnets; it is not a badge of their profession, 
but a means of protecting their eyes when they 
whitewash above their heads. Protection for hands 
is even more necessary, a day's work without pro- 
tection means hands too sore to use for anything. 
One might think that rubber gloves would be per- 
fect for this purpose, but in a few hours the lime eats 
through the rubber. Old rags which one can tie 
round one's hands and replace with others when 
they get wet are I believe the most effectual protec- 
tion. 

Lime once slacked can be kept from one white- 
washing to another and from year to year merely 
by keeping it always wet. It should also be kept 
covered, for dust discolours it. 

Painting. — Surfaces which are to be painted 
should first be made clean, dry and smooth. Sweep 
and wipe walls and ceilings, scrub woodwork with 
soap and water, remove stains and grease spots, 
sandpaper rough places and fill dints, cracks and 
scratches: those in the walls with plaster of Paris, 
those in the woodwork with putty. When wood- 
work receives two coats of paint, the putty should 
be applied after the first coat has dried. 

Surfaces which have not before been painted 



236 HOUSEKEEPING 

always require two coats of paint. The first must 
be thoroughly dry before another is applied. 

Aniateurs succeed better if they use already mixed 
paints, rather than those of their own mixing. If 
after it has been long and well stirred paint is thicker 
than light cream, it should be thinned with turpen- 
tine. Because in thick paint the places where the 
strokes of the brush began and ended are apt to 
show; likewise, because thickly painted surfaces are 
easily scarred. 

Paint with long, light strokes; it is a motion like 
waving a flag, not like scrubbing. 

For wide surfaces, like walls or ceilings, use a 
fairly wide brush to save time; for narrow places like 
door and window casings use a small brush. Soak 
new brushes in water, and keep all brushes in water 
during intervals when they are not in use. A 
brush which has dried with paint in it will soften 
if it is soaked in turpentine. 

Floors and Carpets. — Methods for refinishing 
hardwood floors were given in Chapter Two. 

The directions for beating rugs given in the same 
chapter apply equally to the cleaning of carpets. 

Papering. — It is not always safe to copy pro- 
fessionals in the matter of putting on wall paper. 
They do many things which the unskilled cannot. 



HOUSE CLEANING 237 

Nevertheless, the first thing to do in this work is to 
examine the paper already on the walls. Count 
the full-length strips, then count the short strips 
and calculate how many full-length strips they 
amount to. 

As a double roll of wall paper is usually 16 yards 
long, the number of strips a roll will cut can be found 
by dividing 16 yards by the length of one strip. 
The length of a strip is obtained by measuring the 
height of the room from the top of the base-board 
to the ceiling. Be sure to divide 16 yards by the 
length of one strip in yards, or else to divide its equiv- 
alent, 48 feet, by the length of one strip in feet. 

If a room is not already papered the number 
of full length strips may be found by measuring the 
distance round the room, exclusive of the distance 
across doors and windows, and dividing it by the 
width of the paper. One must then measure spaces 
too short or too narrow for whole strips and as 
before calculate how many full-length strips they 
amount to. 

Wlien the number of full-length strips required 
for a room has been obtained by either of the fore- 
going methods, the number of rolls required may 
be obtained by dividing the number of strips needed 
by the number of strips a roll will cut. It is always 



238 HOUSEKEEPING 

wiser to get one roll more than the number thus 
. obtained; this allows for the waste in matching and 
for strips which may be spoiled in the putting up. 

When the old paper has been examined remove 
it. Brush it over with hot water and peel it off. 
Sweep the walls and fill cracks and holes with plaster 
of Paris wet with water. 

Cut the margin from one side of each roll of 
paper, from the same side in every case. Usually 
the margin is wider on one side than on the other, 
which helps one to remember which side to cut. 
Paper hangers cut off both margins but it is better 
not to do this until one has acquired some skill in 
paper hanging. As you unroll the paper to trim 
off the margin, also roll up again the part which 
has been trimmed. 

On a pasting board or on the floor run out enough 
paper, face up, from a trimmed roll to make a full- 
length strip. Make a fold in the paper at the length 
required and cut it with scissors or a sharp knife. 
Lay something across the ends to keep the strip 
from rolling up. Again run out paper from the 
roll about the length of the strip but this time 
lay it with the trimmed edge on the untrimmed 
edge of the strip and if necessary draw it up to make 
the pattern match. Cut off the few inches which 



HOUSE CLEANING 239 

have to be drawn beyond the strip to make the 
match, then cut a strip from the roll the length of 
the first strip. Continue to do this again and again 
until there are as many strips as you need. Then 
turn them all face down. 

Paste each strip with quick long strokes, using a 
wide paint brush or whitewash brush. Fold the 
lower end lightly toward the middle, far enough to 
keep it from touching the floor when you raise the 
strip by the upper corners. Place these corners 
against the wall where they belong and press the 
upper part of the strip against the wall, then brush 
it lightly downward with a clean brush, unfolding 
the lower part when you come to it. 

Put up all the full-length strips first, beginning 
beside a door or a window frame where you will 
have a straight edge for a guide. Put the trimmed 
edge of the first strip next the woodwork, lap the 
trimmed edge of the next strip over the margin of 
the first, and so on. If the distance between the 
last strip put up and the corner of the room is not 
sufficient for the width of the strip, either leave that 
space and put the next strip on the next wall with 
the trimmed edge close in the corner, or else cut the 
strip lengthwise and put it up with the cut edges 
meeting in the corner. When all the full-length 



240 HOUSEKEEPING 

strips are up, cover spaces which are too short 
or too narrow for a whole strip with pieces cut for 
the purpose frora the strips left. 

A border is put up last and must be done by two 
or three people, or else cut into lengths short enough 
for one to handle. 

Good paste is made as follows : — Into an 
enamelled or new tin saucepan put four quarts of 
water and bring it to the boiling point. Mix a cup 
of flour with cold water as if for thickening gravy; 
beat it smooth. Pour it into the boiling water, 
stirring all the time until the mixture is thick as 
cream and has boiled a little. Remove from the 
stove, and if there is any likelihood that the paste 
will be kept over night, put into it a piece of alum 
as big as a walnut. This keeps it from becoming 
sour. 

Packing. — Renovations accomplished by amateur 
ejBPort are more apt to be associated with house 
cleaning of the first class, than with that of the second. 
Packing, on the contrary, though it has a small 
necessary part in the cleaning of a house continuously 
occupied, is a chief and important performance in 
closing a house. In fact, this latter process is little 
more than packing up a whole house. 

The suggestions concerning packing which follow 



HOUSE CLEANING 241 

are intended to be of use in closing a house but they 
amply cover the packing away which is done spring 
and fall in a house which remains open. 

Woollen articles and furs should be packed in 
receptacles which close tightly and should have some 
substance unpleasant to moths packed with them. 
It is a wise precaution to line packing boxes or trunks 
with brown paper which has been wet with turpentine, 
or with newspaper, for both are disliked by moths. 

All articles should be thoroughly brushed and 
shaken before they are packed. Many people 
disapprove of hanging them out in the sun before- 
hand, as they think this gives the moths a splendid 
chance to lay eggs in comfortable, sun- warmed fur 
and wool. 

Things soiled or half-soiled ought not to be packed 
away. Dirt injures fabrics and colours and helps 
to breed creatures. Possessions which are to remain 
packed for a long time should not be put away 
starched. Do not wrap white articles in white tissue 
paper, it turns them yellow. Beware of putting 
into packing trunks anything which gathers damp- 
ness. It may be romantic to find a dried rose laid 
away with somebody's ball dress, but a brown 
spot on the front breadth is not romantic. Pieces of 
camphor should be wrapped in paper and any other 



242 HOUSEKEEPING 

substance used to keep out moths must be sprinkled 
or laid in with discretion. Black clothes are rarely 
injured by such things, but coloured ones may be. . 

Curtains, hangings, bed coverings and all textile 
furnishings, whether woollen or not, should be 
packed or folded and wrapped when a house is to 
be closed as they require protection from light and 
dust. Sofa pillows may be put into old pillow slips 
and left in their places or packed, whichever is 
more convenient. Mattresses and bed pillows should 
be covered with old sheets or dusting sheets. 

Some people have their carpets and large rugs taken 
up, cleaned and stored by the cleaners or brought 
back to the house and left rolled until needed again. 
Such rolls should have paper tied over the ends and 
should be separated from each other. Sometimes 
carpets are left on the floor and covered with crash 
while the house is closed; the crash protects them 
from dust and from being faded. Fabric-covered 
walls and upholstered furniture should be covered 
to protect them from the same dangers. It is con- 
venient to have a cover for each piece of furniture, 
but if several pieces are grouped together they can 
be covered with one cloth. 

Ornaments, pictures, mirrors and light fixtures 
should be wrapped in cloths or paper to keep them 



HOUSE CLEANING 243 

from dust, light and flies. Silver and valuables 
should be sent away to some reliable place for storage 
or locked in a safe. Bright objects such as andirons, 
brass curtain poles and candlesticks and their like 
are better wrapped in brown paper. Rub the 
nickel fittings in the bathrooms with the rags which 
have been used for polishing floors or furniture. 
This is good for them at any time. 

Books which are to be left in a closed house should 
be carefully dusted and shut in cases, or covered 
with sheets. A piece of gum camphor, or a few drops 
of oil of lavender put on the shelves will help to keep 
away insects, mould and mustiness. 

Leather-bound books need special care about once 
a year whether the house is open or closed. Care 
which agrees well with them is this: First wipe 
them thoroughly and affectionately with a flannel 
cloth; then dip a small piece of flannel into a mix- 
ture of equal parts paraffine and castor oil, and 
with it wipe all the leather parts of the bindings. 

In city houses green shades are usually put up 
in summer and light-coloured ones in winter. Any 
shade which is taken down should be tightly rolled 
to keep the spring from loosening. 

When closing a house in a place where there is 
much dust, it is well to lay pieces of paper on the 



844 HOUSEKEEPING 

window sills, just far enough over the outer edge 
to be held by the window when it is shut. These 
keep the dust which sifts in from lying on and dis- 
colouring the sills. If stoves, lengths of pipe and 
wire screens are put away for a time, it is well to 
grease them, unless the place where they are put 
is absolutely dry. Melted lard or drippings are 
good for this purpose, and also kerosene, though 
in time this completely evaporates. The nickel 
parts of stoves keep in better condition if they are 
wrapped in paper after they are greased. 

When a kitchen is to be closed for a season, 
the room and everything in it must be left clean and 
dry, otherwise there will be mould, rust and water- 
bugs to contend with when the house is opened. 
Some scouring and polishing will be saved if bright 
tin and brass utensils and fittings are wrapped in 
paper. The contents of cupboards and drawers 
should be grouped on tables and covered with paper 
or cloths, and no food kept except stores which are 
not injured by keeping. 

Inflammable liquids such as alcohol, kerosene and 
turpentine should not be left in a closed house. 
Matches should be shut in a tin box or taken away 
altogether. 

The last thing before a house is closed — gas. 



HOUSE CLEANING 245 

electricity and water must be turned oflF. After 
the water is turned off, empty the tanks of the closets 
as they may rust if water stands in them several 
months. Crude glycerine or some liquid which does 
not evaporate should be poured into all traps. In 
the course of months the water in traps evaporates 
and leaves the passageway for gases from the sewer 
to the house unobstructed. 

On account of this evaporation, the water should 
be run occasionally in rooms and bathrooms which are 
not in regular use, in order that the traps may 
be kept full. 

Two general rules to be followed in preparing a 
house to be closed are: mark all articles which are 
wrapped up in unrecognizable packages, and, as 
far as it is reasonable, leave things in the rooms 
in which they belong. 

Many people would add to these the rule that 
household possessions should be repaired before they 
are put away. I think, however, that this rule does 
not apply to clothing, furs, hangings, upholstery 
or any textiles. Such are improved or deteriorated 
by being packed away, and one cannot tell before- 
hand which will happen. Likewise, they are fresh- 
ened by being repaired or altered just before they 
iire again used. 



246 HOUSEKEEPING 

It is true, however, that household appliances, 
and the house itself should be put in order before the 
house is closed, for possessions like plumbing, rain- 
pipes, woodwork, light fixtures, furnaces, stoves 
and shades grow worse the longer they are left 
out of repair, and sometimes injure other things. . 

Opening a House. — Just before a house is to be 
opened, light and water should be turned on, all 
the contrivances connected with them examined 
and needed repairs made. It is better that this 
part of the opening should be done a day or two 
before any one returns to the house to live. 

Dust is the first thing to look after when the 
house is opened. Remove as much of it as possible 
before anything is uncovered. Then remove covers 
and put things in their places, beginning with those 
most necessary for living. After that rearrange and 
renew those which require it as soon as the time and 
needed assistance for doing so can be obtained. 

Housecleaning of any sort can hardly fail to be 
a time of turmoil and weariness for the housekeeper. 
Her help is to remember that if the family have good 
food and comfortable beds and are not scolded or 
quarrelled with, they are well enough off to wait 
several days or even weeks for curtains, clean windows 
and slippery floors. 



UPLIFT VOCATIONAL SERIES 



THINGS GIRLS 
LIKE TO DO 



Part II 

NEEDLECRAFT 
By Effie Archer Archer 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I , What You Should Have in Your Work Box — 

Sewing on Buttons — Basting — Darning . 3 

II. Back-stitching — Over-casting — Creasing a 
Hem and Hemming — Rolhng a Hem — 
French Hemming — Sewing on Tapes and 
Hooks and Eyes . . . . . 12 

III. Gathering — Sewing on Bands — A Practical 

Sewing Apron — Hemmed Patches — Gus- 
sets and Tucks ..... 26 

IV. A Doll's Skirt — Sewing Case — Bindings — 

Doll's Bed Linen — Pin Case . . . 41 

V. Making Buttonholes — Cutting from a Pat- 
tern — ^A Doll's Dress .... 58 

VI. The Simplest Stitches in Embroidery — 
Chain-stitching, Outlining, Herring-bon- 
ing, Cross -stitching, Soutache, Corona- 
tion Braiding ..... 74 

VII. Smocking — Feather-stitching — Lazy-daisy 

Stitch 88 

VIII. Couching — Shadow-work — Turkish Stitch — 

How to Stamp Designs .... 97 

IX. Buttonholing and Wallachian Embroidery . 106 

X. Roman Cut- Work — Fancy Buttonholing for 

Borders — ^Bermuda Fagoting . . . 114 



CONTENTS 

CHAFTBB PAQ« 

XI. Satin-Stitch and Marking .... 123 

XII. Eyelets and French Knots — ^Bullion Stitch, 

and Other Fancy Stitches . . . 136 

XIII. Long and Short — Kensington Embroidery — 

Ribbon Work for Simple Flowers . . 152 

XIV. Hardanger Embroidery for Squares, Pin 

Cushions, and Spreads . . . . 166 

XV. Applique on Linen and Other Materials — 

Hedebo Embroidery .... 174 

XVI. Hemstitching for Handkerchiefs and CoUar 
and Cuff Sets — Simple Drawn Work 
Stitches 183 

XVII. Easy Lace Stitches — ^Fagoting, Single Mesh, 
Double Mesh, Spiders, Fan, Maltese Cross, 
Twisted and Buttonhole Bars, Picots for 
Simple Edge 203 

XVIII. Simple Crocheting— Stitchery for Edges and 

Shawls .218 

XIX. Pattern Directions for Making Doll Caps 
and Capes, Jackets, and Child's Bedroom 
Slippers ...... 232 

XX. Irish Crochet Lace . ' . .~.~. 245 

XXI. Knitting, Plain and Purling— Wash Rags- 
Fancy Stitches for Shawls . . 263 

XXII. Doll's Cap, Hood, Leggings, and Jackets . 272 

XXIII. Embroidery Suggestions for Boarding School 

Girl 284 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



The Last Step is Making the Buttonholes . 

The Right Way to Darn .... 

A Red Cross Working Party 

Making Dolls' Clothes .... 

A Quiet, Comfortable Hour 

Buttonholing ...... 

Many a Happy Hour is Spent Embroidering 
Her First Knitted Shawl .... 

A Red Cross Knitter .... 



Frontispiece v-^ 



FACING PAQB 

10 
14 



58 
98' 
106 



/ 



140 

268'^ 



276 



/ 



NEEDLECRAFT 



WHAT YOU [SHOULD HAVE IN YOUR WORK BOX, 
SEWING ON BUTTONS, BASTING, DARNING 

YOU will find that you are happiest when 
doing things for those you love ; and what 
greater help can you give than by learning 
to do things for yourself that now those who love 
you best do for you? The little everyday things 
that appear to be so simple, yet take so much of the 
mother's time should be the things first to learn. 
There are so many things that one could do if 
one only knew how, that it seems a shame to waste 
time. Dolly needs new clothes, mother always 
needs help with her sewing; and then, too, the nu- 
merous birthdays and Christmases follow so quickly 
one on top of another, that there is hardly a chance 
to save up for one before the next is here. Many 
a hard problem for the little mother will be solved 
in this book. 

It is lovely to have a little work-box fixed up with 
thread, needles, and scissors, all of your own, and if 
you ask mother, I am sure she will give some of 



4 NEEDLECRAFT 

her threads to help you start one. If you take a 
card and shape it Hke a Maltese cross you will have 
space for four colours of threads. You will need a 
card for the white alone because you will find you use 
so much more of it. You must have a little thimble 
and always use it or your finger will look cramped 
when working. Have you noticed how pretty 
ladies look when sewing .^^ Well, you must do as 

they do, tap your needle 
with the thimble to send 
it through the material 
(Figure 1). 
Have you ever wondered 
Kg. 1. The way to use your and woudcrcd why it is that 
^ °^^^ buttons have the horrid 

habit of dropping off just when you wanted to dress 
quickly or take Sally Ann walking? Well, I will 
whisper the reasons for this: the first is, that the 
thread might have been worn out from active service; 
or the thread used might have been weak; or lastly, 
which is probably the true cause, the button might 
have been sewn too close to the material and came off 
the first time it was used. Mother may not be around 
to help you when the accident happens, and would 
you not feel proud to sew it on for yourself.'^ 

To sew a button on securely you should make a 




NEEDLECRAFT 5 

pin-hole where the button is to be placed. A four- 
hole white button is the easiest to work on. Thread 
a No. 7 needle with a length of No. 40 white sewing 
cotton, bring the ends together and make a knot. 
The right length thread is measured from the tip 
of the thimble finger to the elbow. When a thread 
is used double it should be twice the length of this. 
A neat knot is made by holding the threaded needle 
in the right hand and by taking the end or ends, 
as the case may be, between the thumb and first 
finger of the left hand. Keep the thread tightly 
stretched, wind it around the top of the first finger, 
then move the finger down the thumb, carrying the 
thread with it about half an inch. Now with the 
nail of the second finger bring the knot thus formed 
to the end of the thread. 

A large ungainly knot is a disfigurement to a 
piece of sewing. You are now ready to adjust the 
button; place the knot on the upper or right side so 
that it will be concealed; after adjusting the button 
put a pin across the top and sew securely through 
the holes, crossing the threads. Sew not less than 
three times through each hole. Remove the pin. 
Insert the needle from underneath, then bring it 
out between the button and cloth close to the 
centre of the button. Wind the thread tightly 




6 NEEDLECRAFT 

around the neck of the button three or four times. 
(The neck is the threads between the button and ma- 
terial.) Wrapping the threads around protects 

the stitches and allows 
room for the button-hole 
to lie under the button. 
Take the thread through 
to the wrong side and take 
Figs. 2 and 3 ^^ ^^^^^ stitchcs, make a 

short stitch on the material and cut the thread 
close (Figures 2 and 3). 

When a three-hole button is used the stitches form 
a triangle on the top of the button. A shoe-button 
should be sewed with a No. 2 needle and coarse black 
thread. The stitches are taken through the shank of 
the button. Fasten off the thread after sewing on 
two buttons, for if they are all on one continuous 
string or thread and that breaks, all the buttons are 
apt to come off. If each button is securely fastened 
the thread may be passed, however, from one to the 
other. 

Now I know you want to do some real sewing; 
it must not be big or you will get very tired and think 
sewing is not as pleasant as you fancied. The 
simplest stitch in sewing is basting. This is used to 
hold materials together until you are ready to make 



NEEDLECRAFT 7 

firmer stitches. In the following illustration the 
even and uneven basting stitches are shown (Figures 
4 and 5). They must be straight. Even basting 




Fig. 4. Even basting 

stitches should be taken about a quarter of an inch 
apart and in the running stitch which is fine basting 
about an eighth or a sixteenth of an inch. Pretty 




Fig. 5. Uneven basting 



huck pillows can be made of even and uneven 
basting or running stitches. A leaf, star or a 
figure cut out and traced on a piece of muslin 



8 NEEDLECRAFT 

will make a nice design for running stitches 
(Figure 6). 

If you will examine different kinds of materials 
before they are cut, you will note that the threads 
run in two directions. The threads running length- 



^-. , ,,'> 

t I » • 

I -' « 

I » 

I • 

« 4 

\ / 

; 

• / » \ 

I .' V ,*^ 



Fig. 6. A simple design in running stitch 

wise must be the stronger, as they have more strain 
on them. They are called the warp. The warp 
is set up first before the weaving begins. The 
threads running crosswise are called the woof. It 
is the weaker thread and forms the edge or selvage. 
If you will take a card three inches square and 



NEEDLECRAFT 9 

prick a line of dots half an inch from the top and 
bottom edges and prick a line a quarter of an inch 
apart you will have a little loom. The dots must 
be directly under each other. A piece of col- 
oured worsted and a large-eyed crewel needle 
No. 2 will be required. Make a knot at the 
end of your thread and start from the upper right 
hand hole on the wrong side. Bring your thread 
up through the hole and down through the lower 
right-hand dot. The needle must now come up 
through the next hole at the bottom and the thread 
be again stretched across the card. 

When every hole has been filled and you have 
several rows of straight lines, fasten off the worsted 
in the back. Another shade of wool should be se- 
lected so that you can distinguish the warp from the 
woof. The thread you are now going to use is the 
woof; commence at the top and go straight across 
to the left line, up over and down under each thread 
and so on till the row is completed. In weaving the 
next row, pick up the threads of the warp that you 
went over last time. Alternate rows agree (Figure 
7). When finished, the little piece can be used as 
a doll's mat. 

To darn your stockings is almost as simple a 
matter as this weaving. Instead, however, of start- 



10 NEEDLECRAFT 

ing the thread of the warp on an even line, as on the 
card, start some higher than the others. 



The 




Fig. 7. Weaving with worsted 

reason for this is that an even line will be apt to 
make an uncomfortable seam in your stocking. The 
woof threads are always con- 
nected to the stocking. A 
darning ball should be used 
under the hole. In darning 
cashmere or woollen stockings 
it is best to allow the warp to 
be very slack as wool shrinks 
considerably in washing. Wool 
should be used for darning woollen stockings. 

Have you ever belonged to a sewing club? If 



Fig. 8A. The first step in 
darning 



NEEDLECRAFT 11 

not, try to start one and see how much fun there is 
in it. The club should meet either on Friday or 
Saturday afternoon, after the school work is finished. 

Fig. 8B. The second and last step in darning 

Every girl should bring her stockings to darn and 
another piece of work, so that when the darning is 
over she will have something to work on. If there 
are more than four in the club it is a very hard 
thing to keep up. Three is the ideal number for it. 
It is better to have a small number — three, for in- 
stance. A large club is apt to be distracting, but 
three or four little girls, with the right helpful 
spirit, will find such meetings very instructive and 
entertaining. 




n 



BACK-STITCHING, OVER-CASTING, CREASING A HEM 
AND HEMMING, ROLLING A HEM, FRENCH HEM- 
MING. SEWING ON TAPES AND HOOKS AND EYES 

STITCHING is witching," the song book says, 
and it is true, for after we know that stitch 
there are a hundred and one things we can 
do. Some people call it back-stitching and we 
must try to remember that, so that we shall under- 
stand of what they are talking. Get mother to 
give you a piece of material to practise on that has 
a stripe in it. Now take your scissors (Figure 9) 




Fig. 9. The right way to hold your scissors 

and cut out two three-inch squares. Baste the two 
squares together a quarter of an inch from the edge. 
Hold the square over the first finger of the left 
hand ready for the back-stitching. Let the basting 
run up and down over your finger. Start from the 

12 



NEEDLECRAFT 13 

top and make a small stitch backward, on the right 
side of the material, instead of forward as you did 
in running (Figure 10). Pass the needle under 
until you have a stitch twice as long on the wrong 
side as that on the right. Take the next stitch 




oo e ed i e m ic w i iKj- M aj 



Fig. 10. Back-stitching 

backward close to the end of the last one on the 
right. 

Remember that the stitch you take backward 
is only half as long as the one you take forward. 
Stitching always looks very different on the wrong 
side, but on the right side it ought to look like ma- 
chine stitching. This stitch might be called the lion 
stitch, because it is so strong. It is used to join two 
edges together, as for the seams in bean-bags or 
cushion covers. 

In places where there will not be much strain we 
use a quicker stitch, which is called the half-back 
stitch (Figure 11) . This is very much like the stitch- 
ing of which I have been telling you. The wrong 
side will look about the same, but on the right side 



14 NEEDLECRAFT 

instead of the stitches touching there will be a 
space, then a stitch of equal length. 



Fig. 11. The half-back stitch 

The next stitch to learn is the combination- 
stitch, which is made up of both the running and the 
back-stitch (Figure 12). It is a stitch that is greatly 
used for sewing long seams, as on underwear. By 




Fig. 12. The combination running and back-stitch 

this stitch we can cover the distance in about half 
the time that back-stitching would take. 

Whenever you can avoid making a knot, do so, 
because it spoils the look of your work on the wrong 
side. You can start your work, if it is a seam, for 
example, by making two or three stitches on top of 
each other. Follow the thread of the warp or woof 



NEEDLECRAFT 15 

of the material as much as possible. After fastening 
your thread, make two fine running stitches forward 
and one back. Keep the stitches the same length- 



'WW 




Fig. IS. Over-casting 

Over-casting is used on unfinished or cut edges 
to keep them from fraying (Figure 13) . The stitches 
all slant from right to left. Take the stitches one 
eighth of an inch deep and one quarter of an inch 
apart. 




»ii» » i nn i< w iwww n 



Fig. 14. Over-handing 

Over-handing is fine over-casting and used to 
connect two finished edges together (Figure 14), 
as when sewing lace on ruffles, or joining selvages. 
What is the selvage? It is the edge of the warp. 



16 NEEDLECRAFT 

The next time mother goes shopping ask her to take 
you with her. When she tells the salesman she wants 
so many yards of goods, whether it is for kitchen 
towels or a dress for herself or for you, notice how 
the goods is measured. The salesman will measure 
along one of the finished sides of the goods. These 
finished edges are called selvages. 

Make the stitches in over-handing as small as 
possible, keeping the stitches even. Sew through 



^^^ ■ ^^V^ ^^v\^S^VxHiv%> ' ^v^'^ 



M<>»M<>^<»a>»#<i#*WW|i<>^>ai<»i»»»*>l»i»^»^ip.J>CVft>iC.^»wWw^»»^ 



% H^^-s^ v^'^'^i^^^'^'s^ :^. '^ 't^ "^ ^ 'tk '^^ -^ 



Fig. 15. The seam opened 

both pieces of the material. Hold your work be- 
tween your thumb and first finger. Here again it 
is not necessary to make a knot. Let a half-inch 
of the end of your thread lie on top of the material 
toward the left side; the over-handing stitches will 
cover this end. When the over-handing is finished 
run your thumb-nail along the stitches on the right 
side. If your stitches are too deep there will be a 
seam on the wrong side, whereas if the instructions 



y^ 



NEEDLECRAFT 17 

have been followed carefully the material will lie 
perfectly flat (Figure 15). 

Now we are ready to help mother hem the new 
kitchen towels. First see that the edge you are to 
hem is straight. If it is not, pull out a thread so as 
to mark a line to cut by. You must take a thread 
that runs the entire way across the end of the towel. 
Cut carefully along the space out of which the 
thread came. Get a piece of 
card that has two smooth or 
straight edges and make a 

^ ° ^ Fig. 16. A notched card 

notch one-half inch from the 
corner (Figure 16). A half -inch hem is the one com- 
monly used on a towel. 

If mother likes to have her towels with a wider or 
narrower hem, notch the card the size she wishes. 
Turn the material back one-quarter inch and crease 
it down with your thumb-nail. A second fold is 
made the width of the hem. Take your measuring 
card and, placing the end of it on the double edge, 
see if your hem is exactly the width desired. Baste 
along the first folded edge to hold the material 
together for hemming (Figures 17 and 18). Hold 
the edge to be hemmed toward you. Do not knot 
your thread. Insert the needle at the extreme right 
of the hem. Pull the needle through, leaving a 



18 NEEDLECRAFT 

little end, as in over-handing, to be fastened down 
with the hemming itself. 




Fig. 17. The first step 




Fig. 18. The second step 

Your needle should slant as shown in the diagram 
(Figure 19). Take a stitch right through all the 
thicknesses of the material. Be sure that it goes 



NEEDLECRAFT 19 

through to the other side. The fewer the threads 
taken on the needle at the same time, the neater the 
result will be. The stitches should slant from right 
to left. The stitches must be close together if we 




Fig. 19. The way the needle should slant 

want fine hemming. Let each stitch be the same 
size as the other and slant in the same direction. 
The right side of the hem looks like a row of short 
dashes. 

If your needle gets "sticky'* when you are sewing, 
you should pass it through your emery-bag till it 
is shiny and sharp again. The needle is apt to get 
that way if your hands perspire. Ladies who like 
to keep their sewing looking fresh and white, as if 
hands had never touched it, find it a good plan to 
wash their hands in a little vinegar, or lemon and 
water. 

It is very necessary to sit so that the light falls 
over your left shoulder. A little straight-back 
chair is another good help in sewing. Do you know 



20 NEEDLECRAFT 

that many of our English great-grandmothers had 
very straight backs? When they were little girls 
they had to sit on a very straight, tall chair, an hour 
or two every day. A foot-stool was placed under 
their feet, and their shoulders strapped against the 
chair. Of course they did not sit there idle, but a 
piece of fine sewing was given them to work. You 
see they did not have the opportunity to run around 
and play as you have. Their chief recreation was 
their dancing lesson. 

The towel finished, the next thing to learn is how 
to turn a corner and hem it. Shall we make a 

cover for Sally Ann's bed 
or a dust-cloth for mother? 
In either case cut a piece 
of material eighteen inches 
square and turn a hem and 
baste it as you did for the 
towel. The next side is 
folded the same as the first. 
Fig. 20. A comer basted ready The comer should form a 
for hemming perfect squarc (Figure 20). 

Sometimes the material is very thick and the hem 
wide; in that case it is wise to cut a little oblong 
piece out of the corner as shown in the illustra- 
tion (Figure 21). 



NEEDLECRAFT 21 

Napkins and table-covers should be sewed with 
a French hem. Make a turn about a sixteenth of 
an inch deep. The second 
turn should be about three 
sixteenths of an inch wide. 
Fold the hem back so that it 
touches the right side of the 
material. The hem is con- 
nected to the material with 
tiny over-hand stitches. Open 
the hem, when finished crease 
with the thumb-nail till it lies perfectly flat. 

A pretty new way of finishing a handkerchief is 



Fig. 21. The material cut 
from a comer 




Fig. 22. Whipping 

to roll the material for the edge instead of folding it. 
Over-cast or, as we sometimes say, whip it with 
delicate-coloured cotton, (Figure 22). The nicest 
material for handkerchiefs is fine linen, but lawn 



22 NEEDLECRAFT 

is cheaper for practice work. Hold the wrong side 
of the material to you. Then roll about one eighth 
of an inch between the thumb and first finger of your 
left hand. Do not roll more than an inch of the 
hem at a time. Take a needle and thread it with a 
piece of coloured cotton. In this case it is permis- 
sible to make a knot. Insert the needle at the begin- 
ning of the roll. Over-cast or whip the rolled edge. 
The stitches should encircle the roll and not go 
through it. When the rolled inch is over-casted, 
roll another inch and repeat in this manner till the 
whole handkerchief is worked. If you desire, when 
you have finished one side, you can whip in an 



BIKJ^ ^ \^ \J 'J KJ W 'J KJM VV < J ^ VKl^ \J 



Fig. 23. A pretty finish for handkerchiefs 

opposite direction toward the point at which you 
started, thus forming a cross with each return stitch 
(Figure 23). 

Lace is sewed to raw edges by rolling and whipping 
the material and connecting the lace at the same 
time. 



NEEDLECRAFT 23 

Tapes should be on all towels and on all your skirts 
and dresses that are to hang on nails or pegs. Take 




Fig. 24. A rolled hem 

a piece of fine tape about five inches long. Crease 
one end down one quarter of an inch (Figure 25). 
If the tape-loop is to be sewed on a towel 
find the direct centre of the top edge 
of the towel. Lay the tape with the 
creased end open flat on the towel (Figure 
26). Sew along the creased 
line with back - stitching. 
Fold the other end of the 
tape over, baste it down 
so that it entirely covers 
Fig. 25. One ^j^g stitchcs already made 

end creased 

one quarter of ^^^ y^[l}^ Small hcmmiug 

an inch 

Stitches connect the tape to the material 
(Figure 27). There should be two 
tape-loops on your dress or separate 




1 



Fig. 26. The 

tape open flat 

on material 



or dress. 






24 NEEDLECRAFT 

skirt. There is usually too much weight for only 
one loop. Place a loop in each armhole of the waist 
For the skirt, measure the waist-band 
^^ and place the loops so that the band 
I I is divided in thirds. 

Do you know that very few people 
sew on hooks and eyes properly .^^ Yet 
there is no difficulty in sewing them 
correctly and they look much nicer. 
Take the eye, connect it to the mate- 
rial with two stitches that make a cross. 
With the same thread pass the needle 
to the left-hand loop. Insert the needle 
in the material so that 
the eye of the needle is within 
the loop and the point of the 
Aeedle comes just outside. See 
that the thread passes from left 
lo right under the point of the 
needle. Draw the needle 
through and repeat in this man- 
ner until the two loops of the 
eye are firmly connected to the material. Some- 
times it is necessary to cover the upper part of 
the eye. In that case cover the metal with fine 
over-and-over stitches as shown in (Figure 28B). 



Fig. 27. The 
tape finished 




Fig. 28A. The eye firm- 
ly sewed 




NEEDLECRAFT 25 

The loop of the hook is sewed on in a very similar 
manner at the base, while the 
top of the hook is caught with 
eight or nine over-and-over- 
stitches (Figure 29). These 
stitches are taken under the 
hook portion and connect the 
under side only. Measure ac- 
curately just where every eye ^*^" ^^' ^ covered eye 
goes and place the hook so that when it meets the 
eye it will be straight. A sixteenth of an inch out 
of the way spoils the appearance 
and is apt to pull the material 
crooked. Another point to re- 
member is that it is not a good 
plan to place the eyes on the 
extreme edge. A margin of some 
size is most necessary to extend 
Sometimes it is necessary to sew 
a piece of material so that it extends one inch be- 
yond the eyes if the eyes are sewed on the extreme 
edge of the finished garment. This piece is called 
the fly piece. 




Fig. 29. The hook 

beyond the eyes 



ni 

GATHERING, SEWING ON BANDS, A PRACTICAL 
SEWING APRON, HEMMED PATCHES, 
GUSSETS AND TUCKS 

THOUGH I know you don't like making 
samples, I am going to ask you to make 
a little apron for a doll, as a model, before 
we make a real big one. 

Get a piece of muslin five by nine inches and a 
No. 9 sewing needle. Thread it with a piece of 
No. 70 cotton. Baste an eighth of an inch hem on 
both of the five-inch sides, and a three-quarter of 
an inch hem on one of the nine-inch sides. 

The basting of the three sides being finished we 
will now start to gather the fourth side. Thread 
a No. 8 needle with No. 50 thread. Use a thread 
a trifle longer than nine inches. Make a good-sized 
knot in the thread so that the end cannot slip 
through the material. Start from the right-hand 
side of the piece and insert the needle on the under 
side. Let the knot come on top of the narrow hem 
about one quarter of an inch from the raw edge. 

26 



NEEDLECRAFT «7 

The needle is now in position on the right side of 
the material. Take up several stitches on the needle 
before pulling it through (Figure 30). The stitches 




Fig. SO. Gathering the apron 

are nothing more than running stitches. When the 
running has been worked across the nine inches of 
the material, take the needle out and make a knot 
in the thread. 

Put a pin, vertically, close to the last stitch. 
Take up only a few threads of the material on the 
pin. Draw up the running thread so that you have 
about three and a half inches of gathering. Wind 
the thread that extends beyond the gathering over 
the top and under the point of the pin a number of 
times, crossing the thread at the middle of the pin 
so that it forms an eight (Figure 31). 

To allow the gathering to fall evenly, it will be 
necessary to stroke it. Use a No. 2 needle for this 
purpose. With the right side of the work toward 



28 NEEDLECRAFT 

you begin at the left-hand edge. Hold the work 
between the left thumb and forefinger, keeping the 
thumb below the gathering thread. Put the point 
of the No. 2 needle under the gathering thread, 




Fig. 31. Gathers ready for stroking 

holding it obliquely. Press the needle toward the 
thumb, bringing the little plait under the thumb 
and drawing the needle downward. Pinch the little 
plait down lightly with your thumb. Continue in 
this way, putting the needle under each stitch 
(Figure 32). 

Let us now put a band and strings on our apron. 
Cut two strips of material ten inches long by two 
inches wide. These are for the strings. Baste an 
eighth of an inch hem on the two long sides of each 
strip. Make a three-quarter of an inch hem on 
each string. 



NEEDLECRAFT 29 

Over-hand the ends of the broad hem. All the 
hems that are basted on the strings and the material 
itself should be hemmed with fine stitches. 




Pig. 82. Gathering Strokes 

Cut another strip two and a half inches wide 
by five inches long. This is the band. Turn down 
one eighth of an inch of the material all around the 
band. Crease the band in half, lengthwise, so that 
the edges, just folded, are inside. 

Find the centre of the gathered material and the 
centre of the opened band. Holding the wrong 
side of the apron toward you, pin the middle of 
the apron to the middle of the band. Pin the 
gathered side of the apron to the band, three quarters 
of an inch from each end of it. 

Wind the gathering thread around the left-hand 
pin, drawing the thread up to fit the band. With 
the point of the needle adjust the gathers so that the 
fullness is evenly distributed along the band. Hold- 



so NEEDLECRAFT 

ing the gathers toward you, baste with small stitches 
a little above the gathering thread. 

Turn up the band and on the right side of the 
apron hem the band in it, catching up a gather with 
each stitch. Some people prefer to stitch along the 
basting line instead of hemming (Figure 33). 




Kg. 33. Taking up a gather with every stitch 

Baste the other side of the band down, and hem 
as on the right side. Insert the strings in the band. 
Hem in the same way as on the band, first the right 
side and then the left side, and now your little apron 
is completed (Figure 34). 

Would you not like to have a sewing apron that 



NEEDLECRAFT 31 

you can use as a bag when you are not wearing it? 
It is such an easy thing to make that after you have 
one for yourself you will be making them for your 
friends for Christmas. 



Fig. 34. The apron completed 

Get mother to measure you from the waist to 
the knees. The material for the apron should be 
one and a half this measurement. Turn one third 
of the material back. Baste the double edges 
together and sew with fine combination stitches. 

Turn this piece inside out. Crease back one eighth 
of an inch edge of this pocket, as it were. Baste 
a piece of beading over this raw edge right around 
the back of the apron. Be careful not to sew up 
the pocket. 

The beading on the back must be the same dis- 
tance from the bottom as the beading in front; 
that is, we must keep a straight line. Sew on the 
extreme edges of the beading with fine running 
stitches, to connect it to the material. Now as 



32 NEEDLECRAFT 

the ribbon we are to run in the beading must serve 
as a draw string, as well as for decoration, it will 
be necessary to put two pieces in. So get a narrow 
ribbon about one half the width of the openings in 
the beading. Each piece of ribbon must be long 
enough to go once around the apron and enough 
of the ends left to tie double bows — one for each 
side. Start one piece of the ribbon at the right- 
hand side of the apron and the other at the left. 

The top of the apron or single piece is finished with 
a piece of beading which is sewed on, as on the 
pocket. A ribbon long enough to go around your 
waist and to tie a bow in the back is run through the 
beading (Figure 35). 



KddddddaboOdaQdb- 






Fig. 35. The apron 

When the apron is not being worn your work can 
be placed in the large pocket and the single section 



NEEDLECRAFT 33 

folded within the pocket. The ribbons are then 
drawn up tight and ''bravo!" you have a work bag 
fit for a queen (Figure 36). 




Fig. 36. The work bog 

There are so many kinds of rents or holes that 
may happen to your clothes that it is worth the 
while to know how to mend the various kinds. 
There is an old adage that says, "Waste makes 
want," and we would spend a small fortune in clothes 
if every time a wee hole made its appearance we 
discarded the garment. 

If it is a circular hole in a dress or underbody, 
as often happens, under the arms, we will use the 
square patch. Cut a piece of the same kind of 



84 NEEDLECRAFT 

material, three inches square, or larger if necessary. 

Turn a fold of one eighth of an inch on the four 

edges of this square. Crease it lengthwise and 

crosswise. 

Crease the material on which the patch is to be 

laid lengthwise and 
crosswise through the 
tear. Pin the small piece 
or patch on the wrong 
side of the large piece, 
or garment, so that the 
creases run in the same 
direction. The warp 
must run the same way 
in both pieces. One 
sixteenth of an inch 

from the edges run a basting thread. Hem the four 

sides on the patch to the material (Figure 37). 
On the garment side make 

a crease half an inch wide, 

from the hemming, on the 

four sides. Four little squares 

will be formed in the corners. 

Crease along the diagonal of 

each square. Place a pin 

one eighth of an inch from „J'S t^e patch'" ^ ^""^ *^'' 




Fig. 37. The patch hemmed to 
the material 







J 



Fig. 39. The garment side of the patch 



NEEDLECRAFT S5 

each corner, within the patch (Figure 38). Cut 

the garment from the centre of the tear to the 

pins. Repeat this 

on each side, cut- 
ting along the crease 

which you made, 

one half inch from 

the hemming. 
Turn in one 

eighth of an inch 

and baste. Hem 

all around (Figure 

39). 
In patching material such as checked or striped 

ginghams, percales, or other materials, the stripes or 

the checks must 
match so that the 
patch is not too ap- 
parent (Figure 40). 

Have you ever 
noticed how the slit 
or placket of a pet- 
ticoat or side open- 
ing of drawers is 
finished.'* A piece of 
material is put in 



^ 



^t«ft<( t i<i> f .<»<t r,(,c, t r , mt , f ,» « i fY . r , l , M t<« 



\ 



^ 



«PP 



V 




Fig. 40. Matching the stripes 



36 NEEDLECRAFT 

of an odd shape to strengthen the openings. This 
is called a gusset. Suppose that you were making 
a petticoat. Join the skirt up the back from the 
bottom, but leave eight inches open at the top. 
This top opening is the placket. But let us take 
a small piece of material and practise making the 
back of a skirt. We will put a hem and a few tucks 
at the bottom of the material first. 




Fig. 41. Basting the tuck 

Make a measuring card of a straight strip with 
an eighth, three eighths, and three quarters of an 
inch notches. 

Crease and fold a wide hem (three quarters of 
an inch), using the measuring card as a guide. 

Over-hand each end of the hem. Now baste 
along the hem. The over-handing must be done 
before the basting. Now hem this wide hem. 

Again, using the cardboard measure, on the right 
side of the model fold a crease three quarters of an 



NEEDLECRAFT 37 

inch above the hem. Begin at the right-hand side 
to crease and baste (Figure 41). 

With a fine, even, running stitch, an eighth of an 
inch below the crease, make the tuck (Figure 42). 
Measure every few stitches to keep the seam straight. 




Fig. 42. Making the tuck 

If a second tuck is desired, measure from the 
tuck instead of the hem. 

Now we are ready for the slit which is in the centre 
top. On the wrong side start at the top with an 
eighth of an inch 
hem, but decrease it 
to almost nothing 
right to the bottom 
(Figure 43). Fold the 
other side in the 
same manner. In 
hemming the two 
sides, start at the top. 

Now let us prac- 

.tise making gussets pig. 43. The pkcket hemmed 




38 NEEDLECRAFT 

on a piece of paper. Cut a piece of paper three 
inches square. Fold it from corner to corner and 

cut (Figure 44). 
Turn the straight or 
short edges of the 
paper one eighth of 
an inch and fold 
along the two shorter 
edges (Figure 45). 




Fig. 44. The triangle 



Hold the paper with the straight edge down, 
measure it from the two points one quarter of an 
inch. Now cut a piece of material the size of the 
paper and fold like model. 

Cut ojff the two points one quarter inch from each 
corner on the thread of the 
goods (Figure 46). Turn 
these two straight ends and 
the bias edge of paper one 
eighth of an inch (Figure 
47). Turn point of paper 
down one eighth of an inch 
from bias hem and crease 
(Figure 48). 

Now cut the muslin gus- 
set and fold just like the 

paper one. Fig. 46. with points cut off 




Fig. 45. The short edges folded 




NEEDLECRAFT 39 

Hold the model or skirt with right side toward 
you, and turn up point of gusset. Holding the 





Fig. 47. All sides are now 
creased. 



Fig. 48. The point folded over 



wrong side of the skirt toward you, twist left side 
of gusset to left side of placket and over-hand to 
creased line, half way up the gusset (Figure 49). 




Fig. 49. The gusset over-handed half way 

Over-hand right side. Turn bias edge of gusset 

over to right side, pin, having straight edges parallel 

to warp and woof threads and then hem (Figure 50). 

Gather the top of the skirt and put on a band 



40 NEEDLECRAFT 

on each side of opening about the same width as 
the one used on the apron (Figure 51). 




Fig. 50. Gusset hemmed 




Fig. 51. The gusset model completed 



IV 

A DOLL'S SKIRT AND SEWING CASE, BINDINGS. 
DOLL'S BED LINEN AND A PIN CASE 

Cus suppose that Sally Ann measures twelve 
inches from the crown of her head 
to the soles of her feet and that you would 
like to make her a gored skirt like mother's. Would 
you not feel happier if you made the pattern and 
then cut the skirt yourself ? 

Take a piece of paper twelve by nine inches 
wide, mark every inch on both the long sides of 
the paper. Lay a ruler so that it touches the 
centre of the space between the first and second 
dots on the upper edge, and between the second 
and third dots on the lower edge. This will 
form the half of the front gore of the skirt. 
Mark it, "half of front." 

Now draw a line from the second dot on the 
upper edge to the centre of the space between the 
fourth and fifth dots of the lower edge. Connect 
the sixth dot on the upper and lower edges, mark this 
section "side gore." Connect the eleventh dot on 

41 



42 NEEDLECRAPT 

lower and upper edges and mark this section "back." 
The remaining inch mark "belt." (Figure 52). 




3 Z» 5 6 7 8 9 /O // /a 
Fig. 62. The pattern drawn 

Cut the pattern apart along the lines drawn. 

Take a piece of muslin twenty -four by nine inches. 
Tear off two inches of the muslin on the length for 
the band and then ten inches for the back of the 
skirt. 

Fold the remaining piece of muslin with the two 
short edges together so that the doubled piece 
measures six inches by nine. Place the straight edge 
of front of skirt pattern on the fold of the material and 
the edge of the side gore on the other edge. Pin 
the pattern down securely and cut through both 
thicknesses of the material (Figure 53). 

Pin the skirt together, placing a straight edge of 



NEEDLECRAFT 43 

a gore to a bias. Baste a quarter-inch seam along 
the finished edges of each gore, holding the bias 
edge toward you. Sew the seams up with combina- 
tion stitches. Press open the seams and over-cast 
each one to keep it from fraying. 

Fold a hem at the bottom of the skirt an inch 
and a quarter wide. Baste the hem so that seam 




Fig. 53. The back, side gore and front 

comes to seam. On the front gore there will be a 
fullness. Gather this fullness in with fine running 
stitches and baste. Use a separate thread for the 
gathering. Now hem around the whole skirt. 

Cut the placket two inches down through the 
centre back. Turn a hem on the right side one 
half inch wide and on the left one eighth inch. 
Sew the hem. 

Lap the wide hem over the narrow at the bottom 



44 NEEDLECRAFT 

of the placket and stitch across the wide hem two 
rows of stitching one eighth of an inch apart. 

Turn in the strip you cut off at first for the band 



Fig. 54. The skirt 

one quarter of an inch on the two short sides and 
on one of the long sides. 

Fold lengthwise, find centre of band and crease; 
one inch from this, crease again. 

Place and pin band in the same way as for the 
gusset described in the last chapter, placing the 



NEEDLECRAFT 45 

middle crease at the middle of front of skirt. Then 
pin the band also at the creases on either side of 
centre. Gather each side of the skirt that is left. 
Draw in the thread to fit belt. Spread the gathers 
so that most of the fullness is in the back. 

Over-hand the ends and hem second side of the 
band. This finishes the skirt (Figm-e 54). 

A basket or box of some sort is very nice to have, 
as we have said above, for your sewing, but suppose 
you were going to sew with another friend and you 
wanted a handy case in which to carry your sewing 
implements.'^ A cloth case that can be folded or 
rolled is very much more convenient and may be 
carried in the large pocket of your apron. One 
made of denim is inexpensive, wears well, and is 
highly practicable. One yard will make you a case. 

Cut a piece of green denim sixteen by fifteen inches 
long. Turn up four inches of the material, baste 
down both sides. Baste a four-inch pocket on the 
left-hand corner of your case. The rest of the 
case divide in two. This will hold your darning 
cotton that comes on cards. 

We have a pretty way of finishing this case, which 
is not only ornamental but strong, and that is to 
bind it. Get a piece of tape long enough to go 
around the whole case. Crease it lengthwise so 



46 NEEDLECRAFT 

that one edge comes slightly below the other. Open 
it and lay it on denim and then neatly back-stitch 
the right side and hem the wrong. The hemming 
should be just below the back-stitching, and must 
not be seen on the right side. Allow enough tape at 
the corners to make a good angle. Both sides of the 
corner must be treated alike. 

It will be well to have a needle case to match the 




Fig. 55. The material caught from side to side 

sewing case. Cut a strip of material thirteen inches 
long by three and a half inches wide. Cut this 
strip in four parts. Get a piece of cardboard that is 
not too thick or of such kind that will break easily, 
as some of the cheaper grades of brown cardboard 
are apt to do. Cut four pieces, three inches wide by 
three and a half inches long. Thread your needle 
with a piece of No. 40 cotton and put a big knot at 
the end. Take one of the pieces of denim and a 



NEEDLECRAFT 47 

piece of the cardboard. Catch the material from side 
to side with stitches about one quarter of an inch 
apart (Figure 55) . After sewing these two sides sew 
the third and fourth in the same manner. Cover 
each piece of the cardboard in this way (Figure 56). 




Fig. 56. The four sides of material caught together 

Take two of the covered pieces and over-cast them 
carefully together. 

You should have leaves of flannel to stick your 
needles in. Pink the edges of the flannel. Pinking 
is snipping out the edge in little points and can be 
done with scissors. Connect the two pieces of the 
needle case with two tiny bows, or a heavy thread 
can be made to answer the purpose. The flannel 
sheets are tacked through the centre like the pages 
in a book (Figure. 57). 



48 NEEDLECRAFT 

The third or middle compartment between the 
spool case and darning thread can be used for a 
miscellaneous pocket to hold the tape-measure, 
emery-bag, small scissors and other necessary- 
articles. 




Fig. 67. The flannel sheets tacked through the centre 

A piece of tape stretched down on the denim with 
just enough spring for the package of needles to 
pass through is a handy way to carry them (FigureSS) . 

It is rather dangerous to travel with a pair of 
scissors with the points unprotected. In Canada 



NEEDLECRAFT 49 

and the states that border it the Indians sell the 
little sweet grass protectors. A cork, however, 
that comes in small bottles such as you get from drug 
stores will protect the points of the scissors as well 
as the sweet grass protectors, if not as elegantly. 




Fig. 58. The place for the needles 

If the scissors are too large to put in the pocket a 
piece of tape could be stitched down to slip them in 
lengthwise. The case should be folded in three parts 
when it is not in use and a piece of tape the same 
colour as the binding tied around it, (Figure 59). 

Now that you have your sewing apron and a work 
box, you will love to be sewing every chance you get. 
Suppose we plan a set of bed things for Sally Ann. 




50 NEEDLECRAFT 

First let us make a mattress. The mattress on your 
bed is covered, probably, with ticking, but this is too 

harsh for your fingers to 
sew, so let us select per- 
cale or zephyr, and half- 
inch tape for the binding; 
the filling can be cotton. 

Fig. 59. The case folded j^g^jj,^ or f CathcrS. If it is 

impossible to get any of these three, newspapers 
chipped up very fine will make an excellent pad- 
ding. Many people use newspaper chippings to fill 
pillows for summer use. 

Measure the bedstead and cut two pieces of per- 
cale or zephyr exactly the same size. Now cut a 
stripe of the material, one inch wide, long enough to 
go around the four sides of one of the pieces of 
the material that you have just cut. 




Kg. 60. The narrow strip to the large strip 



NEEDLECRAFT 51 

Baste the long narrow strip around one large piece. 

Lay the wrong side of the strip to the wrong side of 

the material (Figure 60). The edges must be 

even. Use the combination stitch of one running 

stitch and one back-stitch just below the basting. 

When the strip has been securely sewed to the four 

sides of the material, join the two ends together on 

the wrong side. 

Now take your tape, 

which may be white or 

the colour of the figure 

in your material, and 

bind the edges by first 

running one side down 

and then the other 

(Figure 61). 
The other piece of 

material is sewed in ^S- ^^- Binding the mattress 

the same manner — the wrong side of the strip to the 
wrong side of the material. Do not sew, however, 
around the entire four sides but leave about six inches 
open through which the filling may be passed. After 
basting the strip with combination stitching fill 
with cotton or whatever material you have on hand. 
Do not fill the mattress so that it will be bumpy. 
Put a little stick in and flatten the filling at the top. 




52 NEEDLECRAFT 

Now sew the opening up and we are ready to quilt 

the mattress. 

Thread a large needle with two pieces of heavy cot- 
ton floss or wool. Push 
your needle through to 
the other side, letting a 
short end extend above 
the mattress. Bring your 
needle back again close to 
where it came out (Fig- 
ure 62). Unthread 
the needle and tie the 
ends tightly. Cut oflf 
what is left and repeat 
again two and a half 
inches over. It is best to quilt in rows; that is, to 
start two inches in from the long side and make a 
row parallel with the tape. The next row is made 
two and a half inches farther over and the next row 
of knots should come in between the first row of dots. 
This mattress is made just like yours and the pillow 
is the next article we will make. The pillow should 
be half the width of your mattress, as we will use two 
on the bed. Take a piece of material twice the 
length desired for the pillow. Use the same kind of 
material as that used for the mattress. Fold the piece 




Fig. 62. Quilting 




NEEDLECRAFT 53 

in two with the wrong side out. Join the two long 
edges and one of the short sides with the 
combination stitch (Figure 63). 
Make the stitches one quarter inch 
from the edge. Now turn the case 
inside out and fill with cotton. 
Turn in the edges of the open end 
and over-cast them together (Fig- 
ure 64). As I have said before, 
it will be necessary to make two 
pillows. 

The pillowcases can be made of 
lawn, cambric or 
muslin. Cut the material a little 
larger both in length and width 
than the pieces used for the pillow. 
The seams of the pillowcases will 
have to be felled. Along the one 
short side and the long side make 
fine running stitches, one quarter 
of an inch from the edge. Cut the 
raw edge from one side so that the 
other is about an eighth of an inch 
wider. Now fold the wider edge 




Fig. 63. The pUIow- 
case 



Fig. 64. Overcasting 



the open end 

over like a hem so that it completely covers the 
cut edge and hem neatly to the material. The open 



,' fl4»f ****** **** 



54 NEEDLECRAFT 

end has a wide hem of say three quarters of an inch. 
When the hem is finished turn the ease with the 

work inside. 

For the sheets cut two pieces 
of musHn or lawn large enough 
to cover the mattress and to 
turn under. The selvage edge 
of the material should run the 
length of the sheet. Turn in 
a quarter-inch hem on the two 
long sides of each sheet and 
hem. Now turn a one-inch 
hem at the top and bottom of 
each sheet. This completes 
the sheet (Figure 65). 
A blanket is of course very necessary to have and it 
can be made of a piece of an old blanket or of canton 
flannel, cashmere, or plain flannel. If a piece of 
blanket is used, finish the edges with the blanket 
stitch which is described in Chapter twelve of the 
book. 

The flannel, cashmere, or canton flannel is finished 
by turning the edges over a quarter of an inch and 
herring boning or cat-stitching them to the mate- 
rial (Figure 66). For cat-stitching see diagram in 
Chapter nine. 



| i^ H ,M> * * » *t f, *** * , 



Fig. 65. The sheet 



^ »V » j H<i« . ^<S i * » «W ^VWS * ^ 



NEEDLECRAFT 55 

No bed is complete without a counterpane of 
some sort and this can be made as fancy as you desire. 
A pretty one is made of strips of 
insertion joined together by fine 
over-casting or fagotting. Fag- 
gotting is explained in Chapter 
twenty. A row of edging will have 
to be sewed like a rufl3e around 
the two long and one short sides 
to complete the counterpane. 

If a very fancy counterpane is 
desired get a piece of checked F»g- ®6- The blanket 
gingham of some light colour. The check should 
be a quarter of an inch square. With your needle 
threaded with white or a shade deeper than the 



^V«^\V^A %rt^^ ^ ■*f■ ^^B r^ X 




Fig. 67. The crow's foot and spider on checked gingham 



56 NEEDLECRAFT 

darkest check make spiders on the dark squares 
and crow's feet on the light. Directions for making 
a spider are given in the chapter on "Lace Stitches." 
A crow's foot is made by taking one stitch on the 
diagonal of the square and two on each side of it, 
the stitches on each side of the first one being a trifle 
shorter than the previous ones (Figure 67). A coun- 




Fig. 68. The envelope opened 

terpane like this is very attractive and does not 
require a great deal of time to make. 

A dainty little pin case that will make an accept- 
able little gift for a friend that is going to travel is 
the envelope pin case. Take a piece of material 
such as linen, cretonne, or silk and another piece of 



NEEDLECRAFT 57 

different coloured material for lining and shape one 
end as shown like the flap of an envelope (Figure 68) . 
A good size is nine inches long by four inches wide. 

Cut a piece of stiff paper a half inch smaller than 
the pieces of material. Baste the material which 
will be outside over the paper so that the edges are 
folded back one quarter on the paper. Turn a 
similar fold on the lining and hem it to the material 
as shown on the flap of the envelope opened. 

Now take two papers of pins and place them in 




Fig. 69. The envelope case closed 

the case so that they look like leaves of a book. Be 
careful to see that the heads of the pins are on top. 
Now catch the pins to the case with several long 
stitches which are taken below the points of the 
pins. Stitch a ribbon to flap of envelope and one 
at the bottom. Close the case and tie the ribbons 
and you have a handy pin case (Figure 69). 



MAKING BUTTONHOLES, CUTTING FKOM A PATTEKN. 
A DOLL DRESS 

TO MAKE a good buttonhole is an accom- 
plishment that any girl can be proud of, 
as it is the hardest thing in sewing. 
The thread should be almost double in length to 
that you usually take, as a joining is very clumsy 
in a buttonhole. 

A buttonhole is a worked opening in a piece of 
material or garment through which a button is to be 
slipped. The friction caused by buttoning and unbut- 
toning necessitates 
that the worked 
edges should be firmly 
and well sewed. 

Before we make a 
real buttonhole, let 
us see how the stitch 
is worked. Draw a 
lineoneinchin length 
Take two stitches 




Fig. 70. The first step in buttonholing 

with the straight of the material 



58 



NEEDLECRAFT 59 

one inch long over this line. At the extreme left 
of the stitches insert your needle, threaded with 
No. 40 cotton. Take a stitch about a sixteenth of 
an inch below the line. While the needle is still 
in the material — you are working from left to 
right ■ — (Figure 70), carry the thread under its 
point from the left, to the right side of the needle. 
The enlarged cut showing this stitch is very plain. 
The needle is then drawn through the material 
toward the chest and then straight from it. The 
next stitch and every other stitch must be identical 
with the first, the difference being that each stitch 
is then a little farther to the right. Every stitch 
must be the same length. 

Now let us prepare to make the stitch on a fold. 
Fold a band in three equal parts. Pass the needle 
between the folds and bring it out on the edge. 
Hold the end of the thread with the left thumb. 
Carry the needle to the back of the fold and insert 
the point through the fifth thread of the material 
from the edge. The double thread at the edge of 
the needle is brought around the point of the needle 
from left to right and drawn out. (Figure 71). 

A tailor's buttonhole is made slightly different. 
The needle is placed in the same position as in the 
ordinary buttonhole. The thread is brought from 



60 NEEDLECRAFT 

the top of the stitch and the doubled thread is 
brought around under the point of the needle from 
right to left (Figure 72). 




Fig. 71. The position of the needle in buttonholing 




Fig. 72. A tailor's buttonhole 



The corners of the buttonhole are worked in two 
ways, either barred or rounded. The round corners 
are worked in the same buttonhole stitch, only it 




NEEDLECRATT «1 

is twice the depth of the buttonholing along the 
two edges. Five or seven stitches will be sufficient 
for a corner or the ridge of the buttonholing will 
be too crowded. 

The bar or braced end of the buttonhole is a 
little more difficult. It is necessary to bar a button- 
hole for heavy woollen materials such as men's coats, 
or your own cloak, or outer wraps (Figure 72). 
Generally the first end of the buttonhole is rounded 
and the last end barred 
(Figure 73). 

Work around the button- 
hole end when the last stitch 

Fig. 73. The buttonhole with 
has been made, turn the ma- one end rounded and the 

other barred 

terial so that the work lies 

across your forefinger. Pass the needle over the 
extreme left of the stitch, (Figure 74). Work four 
stitches the same length as those of the two 
sides of the buttonhole, and then insert 
the needle through the ridge of the first 
Fig. 74. Barring buttonholc stitch. The ridge of the 

the buttonhole < » . i i_ . . i i rm. • u 

bar faces the buttonhole. inis bar 
should be just the width of the buttonhole. Nine 
stitches are usually sufficient for it. 

Tailors run two or three strands at the base of 
the buttonhole before working the nine stitches. 



62 NEEDLECRAFT 

'Kie stitches are not taken through the material but 
only over the threads. 

A buttonhole is fastened off on the wrong side 
at the base of the stitch. 

The most important step is to cut the buttonhole 
straight. The buttonhole should be a trifle longer 
than the button. It should be cut in the opposite 
direction to which the strain will be. For instance 
on the back of the waist the buttonholes should 
run crosswise, for the movement of the shoulders 
spreads the buttonhole lengthwise. On the bands 
around the waist buttonholes are made lengthwise. 

A sharp pair of scissors or a penknife should be 
used for cutting the holes. Insert the point of the 
scissors or knife through the centre of the button- 
hole. Cut one side, then the other, along a thread 
of the material. 

The thread is fastened securely on the wrong side 
of the left-hand corner. Use No. 40 sewing cotton 
for buttonholes, unless on very fine material, when 
No. 60 should be used. Sometimes it is well to 
over-cast the raw edges before working the button- 
hole. A thread should always start at the extreme 
lower left-hand corner. 

The backs of yokes should be fastened with loops 
and fine buttons. To make a loop, span the thread 



NEEDLECRAFT 6S 

across the edge of the material in a loop large enough 
to slip the button through. Let the last stitch be 
on the right-hand side. Now place the threaded 
needle under the strands of thread letting the thread 
fall under the point of the needle. Repeat in this 
manner till the strands are entirely covered. The 
ridge or purled edge of this stitch will be on the out- 
side of the loop. 

Hooks are sometimes caught into loops, but they 




Fig. 75. Loops made of threads 

are made directly on the material instead of sewed on 
the edge. The strands of thread, however, are not 
as loose as the buttonloops. The diagram (Figure 
75) of the two loops will convey a clear idea of 
how the threads are spanned and covered. 

The last step in sewing is cutting from a given 
pattern. An old garment that fits well, ripped 
apart makes an excellent pattern and requires very 
little fitting. Press the pieces before using them as 
a pattern. Lay the material so that the selvage 
runs lengthwise, that is, from head to foot. Only 




Fig. 76. The centre 
front on fold 



64 NEEDLECRAFT 

one half of the garment is necessary for a pattern, 
as the material is doubled or folded lengthwise 
(Figure 76). The centre front of 
the skirt or waist is always placed 
on the fold of the material and 
either basted or pinned down be- 
fore cutting. 

Collars, cuffs, bands, and sleeves 
are cut with the selvage running 
their length. Cut any part of a 
garment such as sleeves, waist, or 
skirt through two thicknesses of 
material so that both sides will be 
exactly alike. This does not refer to the front gore 
of a skirt. When the material has a right and wrong 
side the right sides should face each other before 
cutting the pattern. 

Handkerchiefs or frills should be cut along a 
thread so that the edges may be perfectly straight. 

Be sure that the material lies perfectly flat under 
the pattern. Pin the centre first to keep it from 
slipping before pinning the edges. Pin the entire 
garment before cutting anything, so that you can 
be sure that your material will be suflScient. This 
also gives you an opportunity to see where to put 
the smaller pieces and economize with the material. 



NEEDLECRAFT 65 

A large pair of scissors should be used in cutting. 
The blunt -pointed blade is next to the board or table. 
It is well to practise on paper and plan the pattern 
before using the pattern on the cloth. 

Bias bands should be cut on the bias of the mate- 
rial. Cut a square piece of material and fold it cat- 
a-comered. Cut along the fold and you will get a 
true bias. 

Bands to finish the necks of undergarments or 
around armholes should be cut on the bias. In 
fact, any curved edge that has to be faced should 
be faced with a bias instead of a straight band. 

Now suppose we make a real dress for Sally Ann 
that will be put together and finished just like one 
of your own dresses. The style we will select will 
be on the order of a French dress, that is, a long waist 
and short skirt. The pattern for the waist is in 
seven parts: they are the front, side front, back, 
side back, sleeve, collar, and cuff. The skirt is only 
one piece. 

Three quarters of a yard of material will be suffi- 
cient to make a dress for a doll from eighteen to 
twenty inches in height. 

In all patterns that are bought only one half is 
given ; sometimes all the seams — which are a very 
important part of a dress — are given and sometimes 



66 NEEDLECRAFT 

they are omitted. Any pattern that is pubhshed 
by a rehable firm tells on the envelope whether you 
should allow for the seams or not. 

The pattern is usually of tissue paper and each 
piece has perforations or holes of different shapes. 
One shape means this side must be placed on the 
fold of the material, another shape or perforation 
the same shape only grouped differently, means that 
the pattern should be placed on a straight thread of 
the material. Still another means "gather here." 
If there are tucks in the pattern they are usually 
indicated. Where the seams join each other, little 
notches are made and corresponding notches are 
placed together and pinned after the pattern 
is cut. 

Let us suppose the material is forty -five inches 
wide. Place the centre of the skirt on the fold of 
the material and pin in place. Your pattern should 
be planned and pinned on a flat surface such as a 
sewing table. Place the pins through the tissue 
pattern and both thicknesses of the material, letting 
the head and the point of the pin be visible to the eye. 
Do not cut any piece of your pattern until you have 
planned and pinned every piece, as that is the only 
way you can economize on your material (Figure 
77). Often a pattern cut before each piece is 



NEEDLECRAFT 67 

planned comes to grief if an over-supply 
of material has not been provided. 

The centre front is also placed on the 
fold of the material as well as the centre, 
back and collar. The sleeves are now 
fitted in, so that the perforations rest 
on the straight thread of the material. 

The side front and 
back and cuffs are 
also pinned to the 
material. The 
pattern now pin- 
ned, take a large 
pair of cutting 
scissors and hold- 
ing the blunt part 
toward the table, 
cut close to the 
tissue pattern, or 
if no seams are 
allowed, the width 
stated in direc- 
tions should be 
allowed for the 
seams. 

, 77. The waist pattern pinned i . i. 

to th« material Let US make the 




68 

sleeve first, 
right side 




Fig. 78. Notches of j . i i j j 

sleeve put together ready to be banded 



NEEDLECRAFT 

Take one sleeve and holding with the 
join notches together (Figure 78). 
Baste the sleeves up on the seams 
one eighth of an inch from the edge. 
When the basting is finished make a 
row of fine running stitches. Turn the 
sleeves on the wrong side and baste 
them before working the combina- 
tion stitches. The sleeves are now 

The band is 

taken and sewed on the short side. The seaming 
is taken on the wrong side of the material. A little 
seam is taken on each of the long sides of the cuff. 
Fold the cuff in half. The turns or folds are opened 
out and now turn the cuff inside out. Run a gath- 
ering thread at the lower edge of the main part of 
the sleeves starting the thread one half inch from 
each side of the seam. Place the cuff around the 
sleeve so that cuff seam rests on the seam of the 
sleeve. Pin into position. It will probably be nec- 
essary to pull or adjust the gathering thread so that 
the lower part of the sleeve be just the size of the 
cuff. Baste the band on after it has been pinned sat- 
isfactorily before working the combination stitch. 

Turn the sleeve inside out and fold the cuff in 
the creases. Hem the inner side of the cuff to the 




NEEDLECRAFT 69 

wrong side of the sleeve. On the upper side of the 

sleeves run another gathering thread about one 

inch and a half from the 

seam (Figure 79). We have 

now finished with the sleeve 

until the waist proper is 

ready. 

Now take the centre back 
and side back and baste them 
together. Join the pieces so 
that the notches correspond. 
Work the combination stitch 
three eighths of an inch from pig. 79. Gathering the top of 
the edge. The side fronts 

are joined to the backs under the arm and on the 
shoulders. The front is then sewed to the right 
side of the waist only. It will be necessary to face 
the centre front piece and the left side front. Take 
a bias strip of material not more than three quarters 
of an inch wide and fold an eighth of an inch on each 
side of this strip. Join the shoulder seams together, 
one side of the back to the right side of the front and 
the other side to back. Sew with combination 
stitches, then make a felled seam as explained for 
the sleeve. Baste the turned fold to the right-hand 
side of the waist by opening out creased side and 



70 NEEDLECRAPT 

placing the two right sides together and stitching 
one eighth of an inch from the edge. Turn the 
bias over to the wrong side of the waist and sHp 
stitch. Shp stitching, as I have explained before, 
is somewhat like hemming; only the stitches are 
taken back of the folded edge and catch one thread 
only of the material. 

The other bias band is basted in like manner to 
the left-hand side of the waist. 
The sleeves are ready to be put in. Measure one 

and one quarter inches from 
the under arm seam on the 
waist, which is the short 
seam near the front of the 
waist. Pin the seam of the 
sleeve to this point. Pin 
the rest of the sleeve so 
that the gathers are evenly 
distributed. Pin the right 
side of the sleeve to the 
right side of the waist. Baste securely. Remem- 
ber that the gathers should be thickest on the 
upper part of the sleeve (Figure 80). Stitch 
with fine back-stitching and then overcast. The 
neck may be bound or may have the collar attached. 
Turn and hem the outer edge of the collar; a 




Fig. 80. The gathers on the 
upper part of the sleeve 



NEEDLECRAFT 71 

rufl3e of lace may be added if desired. Baste the 
collar to the waist, and try the waist on Sally Ann. 
If it is a satisfactory fit, stitch in place. It is well 
to cover the raw edges with a little bias fold. Hem 
the fold down on both sides. 

The long strip is not joined, but a half -inch hem 
folded on one side and then stitched. The skirt 
is plaited or kilted, as it is often called. A hem is 
made on each of the short sides of the strips. Now 
crease the material as if you were going to make a 
tuck three quarters of an inch deep. A box plait 
will next have to be planned; again crease your 
material as if you were going to make a tuck three 
quarters of an inch deep. These creases must be 
exactly three quarters of an inch from the double 
fold of each piece. Measure an inch and a half, 
then turn the material under so that a three-quarter 
inch piece is under the left side of the waist line. 
This completes the box plait. 

The plaits from there on are folded toward the 
left, while the first two were toward the right. Baste 
each plait down securely. When working on cotton 
materials that have a lot of dressing, the creases are 
likely to stay in without basting, but while working 
on it the edges are apt to get turned up. Basting 
(Figure SV is therefore the surer and safer way 



72 NEEDLECRAFT 

to keep the plaits in position, while for woollen or 

soft, sleazy materials it is the only way. 

When every plait has been basted lengthwise, 
take another thread and baste them crosswise three 
or four times. 




Fig. 81. Section of plaited skirt showing how it should be basted crosswise 

Join the waist to the skirt, taking care that the 
centre of the box-plait is under the direct centre 
of the front of the waist. 

A sash will be needed to finish this dress. It can 
be tacked in place or little straps of ribbon may be 
stitched at intervals and the ribbon run through 
the straps (Figure No. 8lA). 

If this dress had been stitched on the machine 
it would have been better to make tailored seams 
on the waist; that is, a narrow seam is taken on the 
wrong side. The material is then turned back so 



NEEDLECRAFT 73 

that on one side of the seam it slightly overlaps 
the other. Baste in place and stitch on the edge. 
Tailored seams do not require any extra allowance 
of material. They should slant toward the right 
on the right side of the gar- 
ment and toward the left on 
the left side. If the seams 
were stitched to run in one 
direction the garment would 
have a very one-sided ap- 
pearance. 

Press all the wrinkles caused 
by handling the dress in 
sewing. It is best to lay a 
damp cloth over the material 
rather than place the iron 
directly on the material. 
You will need a small iron for 
this dress. Press each plait 
down carefully. Take out 
the basting threads before trying on the dress. 

There are good, bad and indifferent dressmakers, 
and I know you wish to be one of the former. Sew 
a row of buttons on the left front of the dress and 
make little buttonholes to correspond on the right 
side. 




Fig. 81A. Sally Ann's new 
dress 



VI 

THE SIMPLEST STITCHES IN EMBROIDERY — CHAIN 

STITCHING. OUTLINING, HERRING-BONING, CROSS- 

STITCHING, SOUTACHE, CORONATION BRAIDING 

IT WOULD be hard indeed to say just how many 
stitches there are in embroidery, as so many 
are combinations of the others. The ones you 
WU hear about are the simplest ones. 

Some years ago I had a large class in embroidery 
in a mission school. Every seat was taken and 
many applicants were refused admittance. The 
supervisor came in one day and said that there was 
a little girl who was very anxious to join the class 
and that she knew how to sew. I did not have the 
heart to refuse her, so in marched little Nellie. She 
was just seven years old and said that she attended 
sewing school every Saturday at her church and that 
her teacher had taught her all about embroidery. 
I gave her a little stamped design and told her to 
chain-stitch it and let me see how well she could do 
it. About five minutes later I happened to turn 
around and there was little Nellie frantically waving 

74 



NEEDLECRAFT U 

her hand. ** Teacher, teacher," she said, ** that is the 
only stitch the Lady didn't show me." 

Now, as I am most anxious that nothing hke that 
will happen to you, I will start with chain-stitching 
as the simplest stitch (Figure 95) . It is also one of 
the oldest stitches in embroidery. Every museum 
that exhibits embroidered articles will have some 
elaborate designs carried out in fine chain-stitching. 
If the stitches are worked in filo silk or spool silk 
the eflfect is like machine work. 

Draw a straight 
line on a piece of 
muslin and thread 
your needle with a 
piece of red cotton. 
No knots should be 
used in embroidery. 
Fasten the thread 
by taking three fine 
running stitches and one back stitch to insure firm- 
ness at the end of the line. Now with the needle 
in position at the beginning of the line, start by 
taking a straight stitch on the line. Bring the 
thread under and pull the needle through the 
material. You have made the first loop. Put 
your needle back into the last hole or as near as 




Pig. 95. Chain-etitching, showing how 
to turn a corner 



76 NEEDLECRAFT 

possible to it, take another stitch on the line, repeat 
until you come to the end of the design. 

Take the same length stitch every time or you 
will not have a good-looking chain. If you will 
look at the links in your chain bracelet, you will see 
that every link is the same size as the others. Sup- 
pose you wanted to chain-stitch a square or a triangle : 
when you come to the corner do not try to make one 
continuous line, but carry the needle down through 
the material at the end of the loop to fasten the link 
and start the next row at right angles to it. Chain- 
stitching can be put to many uses. It is a pretty 
stitch to cover a single line in a conventional design. 
It is also the quickest kind of padding for large 
designs. When it is used as a padding, the rows are 
worked close to each other. If the work is to be 




Fig. 96. Smooth outlining 

raised very high, the chain-stitching may be placed 
in rows one on top of the other. You will, however, 
hear more about padding in a later chapter. 

The next stitch we will talk about is the out- 
lining, (Figure 96). Some people think it is 



NEEDLECRAFT 77 

simpler than chain-stitching. It was the first 
stitch I learned in embroidery, but it is not as pretty 
as chain-stitching. The first thing I did in fancy 
work when I was nine years old was a wonderful 
face cloth with a wild rose on the top, and under it 
my name and the motto, ^'Cleanliness is Next to 
Godliness," worked in red cotton. After that I 
made face cloths for every member of the family. 

Outlining makes one think of plain sewing. There 
are two kinds of outlining, rough (Figure 97) 
and smooth, the difference being in how the 
thread is thrown. To make the rough outline, fasten 
the thread as directed in 
chain-stitching and on the 
line take a stitch about an ^'s- 97. Rough outlining 
eighth of an inch. Then work from left to right. 
Let the thread fall under the needle and be sure 
to keep it this way. A smooth outline is made 
by throwing the thread over the needle instead of 
under it; this outline can be used as stems for 
flowers unless a more elaborate kind is desired. 

Either chain-stitching or outlining is an excellent 
way to decorate bureau scarfs, pillow tops, or table 
covers. 

Herring-boning is used for finishing seams on a 
flannel skirt, or it may be used above hems. The 



78 NEEDLECRAFT 

little flannel skirt you intend to make for Sally Ann 
this winter should be finished in this way. Here is a 
stitch for which we do not need guide lines, though 
while you are learning, the lines might be helpful. 
Draw two parallel lines a quarter of an inch apart. 




Fig. 98. Herring-boning or catatitching 

Take a stitch on the upper line, about an eighth 
of an inch long. Then make one on the lower line, 
letting the thread fall always to the right. When 
you have made a row between with the lines, try to 
work one without lines and see if you can keep the 
herring-boning straight (Figure 98). 

A plain quilt or cover for the baby can be made 
very attractive, by working herring-boning around 
the edge. If the cover is woollen, use worsted or 
heavy silk for the stitchery, but if it is cotton mate- 
rial, a heavy lustre is recommended. The needle 
to use depends on the thread. A sewing needle 
will carry a round cotton thread such as D. M. C, 



NEEDLECRAFT 79 

Madonna, Utopia, Royal Society, or Peri lustre. 
A crewel needle, which is a needle with a long eye, 
will be required for silk or worsted. An easy way 
to thread a No. 2 or No. 4 crewel needle with worsted 
is to hold the needle in the left hand and double 
the thread at one end and run the needle through 
it. Hold the thread between the thumb and first 
finger of the right hand so that the thread is just 
visible. Gently pull the needle out with the left 
hand and run the doubled thread through the eye. 
It sounds a great deal harder than it actually is, but 
it will require very little practice. 



^- — ^ 


~2[j^ ^ 


C I 


'^=:==sf 


jr^'^zz:i 




I 









Fig. 99. The first step in cross-stitching 

When you went to kindergarten did you have little 
pierced cards on which you made designs in coloured 
silks or cottons? Well they had these at my school 



80 NEEDLECRAFT 

and we made book-marks, needle-books and all 
sorts of funny little things. If you remember the 
cross-stitching of the kindergarten days, regular 
cross-stitching will be a simple matter. The nicest 
material for this work is Java canvas, which is very 
coarse and stiff. It is ideal for book covers or nap- 
kin rings. The holes in the canvas are so large that 
working on it is almost like play. As Java canvas 
is rather expensive you will find a coarse scrim a 
good substitute. A lot of boys that I once knew 
took up this work very enthusiastically, so simple 
is it. 





% - L- 




^-^^\ ' - 


^ 


y^ %^ ^- 


^ 


^— nM. J^r4**-^V-3^^-i 


y 


^z^eZm^^,^- - 











Fig. 100. The second step in cross-stitch 

Do you know that you can make a gingham apron 
for mother and decorate it with cross-stitching that 
will last ever so long.^ Get a piece of gingham with 
squares about an eighth of an inch. Cross-stitch it 
in a shade darker than the gingham or in white or 



NEEDLECRAFT 81 

red. The stitches are taken on the diagonal as 
shown in the diagram (Figures 99 and 100). If 
there is a great deal of cross-stitching to be done, 
the quickest way is to make all the stitches that run 
in one direction first, and then come back and cross 
them. Perhaps mother has a small piece of cross- 
stitching that you can use as a model. Simple 
triangles are easy to make. Begin the lower row 
with an uneven number, such as seven, nine, eleven, 
or thirteen. The next row make two stitches less, 
dropping one from each end, and so on till you have 
one at the top. 

Now suppose that you had a little linen or silk 





















iigiSgiBsn 




MWjBg 


rTM"^i \ J jb" 


~M~~M^ pi 


ffiil -_W_ 1 


SiSL.^J ' 


M H_ bTjk. J 


B Ijfi n_j|i 1 


H K!(1i(_i^ 




H H Myil 1 


M~i ^w j^ ' 


IbJB f^ jS 


11 inw^ 


8 jClSfc, jf 


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H M M^~]^ Kr~ii 


BVE h H 




sBSiiws 
























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v^ ' 


t^ 




T. 



Pig. 101. A good hand design in cross-stitching 



82 NEEDLECRAFT 

bag on which you would like to have a cross-stitch 
design, yet this material is not coarse enough for 
you to use as a guide for the cross-stitching. Do 
not think you cannot do it, for I will show you a 
way. Get a piece of scrim just as coarse as you can 
find, and baste it over the place you would like to 
cross-stitch. Work the design on it and when the 
cross-stitching is all finished pull out the scrim 

























^ 




BB 




n 




LJ 




ra ~ ~" 




jJTB 




1 iH 




II 








■ 










- - Zi^ssi 




TpH*} 









Fig. 102. A cross-stitch design 

thread by thread. Sometimes you will have to snip 
the threads of the scrim if your needle accident- 
ally gets caught in them. (Figures 101, 102, 
and 103.) 

A very simple thing to do is to braid a dress for 
yourself. Now that all the large pattern houses 
are carrying transfer patterns you can get a design 



NEEDLECRAFT 83 

for braiding very cheap. A little girl I know braided 
a dress for herself and one for her mother last sum- 
mer. She used light blue chambray and braided 
it with white. There are several kinds of braid, but 
the easiest to use is soutache, whether it is cotton 
or silk. It is a flat braid and varies in width from 
one to three eighths of an inch. First stamp your 




IZIiBII~88ll88~ 




Pig. 108. Another cross-stitch design 

design on the material, or if you have not a transfer 
pattern you can draw a design on tissue paper, mak- 
ing it as long as required and then baste the paper 
in right position on your dress. Take a stiletto, 
which is a little tool somewhat like a nail that is 
used in embroidery for piercing holes, and punch 
a hole on the line. Push one end of your braid 



84 NEEDLECRAFT 

through this and fasten the end of it on the wrong 
side of your material. Thread your needle with 
sewing cotton or silk the colour of the braid and sew 
it down with little running stitches and an occasional 
back-stitch to fasten it firmly. When you come to 
the end of the line or of the braid, carry the end 
through as at the beginning and fasten. 




Fig. 103A. A fourth design in cross-stitch 

Coronation braid is beautiful, but oh, so very 
much harder to sew on than flat braid. There are 
two ways that coronation braid may be sewed on. 
The one that I give preference to is stamping the 
design on the wrong side of the material and holding 
the braid on the right. A stiletto hole is made on 
the line and the end of the braid brought through 
to the back and fastened securely so there will be 
no likelihood of its slipping. Then, holding the 
braid with the left hand, connect it to the material 
from the wrong side with fine running stitches. The 
stamped line on the wrong side will serve as a guide 



NEEDLECRAFT 85 

for the stitches. You can feel every time the needle 
touches the braid. Now perhaps many of you are 
wondering what coronation braid is. It is a braid 
that looks like fat grains of rice all strung together. 
There are different sizes of the braid, varying from 
the quarter inch to the three quarters of an inch size. 



Fig. 104. Coronation braid 

The second way to sew it on is from the right side 
with little slip stitches. At the small end it would 
be wise to take a stitch over the braid to hold it 
firmly. Centre pieces, bureau-scarfs or even towel 
ends are handsome when decorated with coronation 
braid, and do you know it is a very easy matter to 
make designs for yourself, as there is nothing prettier 
than daisies or wild roses for coronation braid. If 
the petals are too fine to allow you to use the coro- 
nation braid, then you must use one grain for each 
petal, cutting off the grains as you require them. 

Coronation braid comes in white, Delft blue, 
bright green, or red. The braid is supple enough to 
turn sharp corners. 

The daisy, as I have stated before, is one of the 
principal designs used for coronation braid. Braid 



86 NEEDLECRAFT 

the flower with one piece of the braid. It is not 
necessary to cut the braid but at the beginning and 
the ending of the daisy. The very largest width 
of coronation braid will be required for the daisy. 
Two grains will be sufficient for a petal. Bring 
the narrow ends to the centre and connect them to 
the material. In the centre make a cluster of French 
knots. The effect produced is a daisy embroidered 
heavily and yet quite different from satin stitch. 
(Figure 105.) 

A belt decoration with five or six coronation daisies 
is very attractive when used on a light summer 




Fig. 105. A daisy in coronation braid 

dress. Sometimes the owner prefers to couch the 
braid down with blue cotton and to work the centre 
of the daisy in the same colour. 

A row of daisies is improved by working a fag- 
otting stitch which is explained in "Simple Lace 



NEEDLECRAFT 87 

Stitches," between the petals. See that the braid is 
sewed on far enough apart that the lace stitches will 
not be crowded. 

Coronation braid is also used with crochet stitches 
for the borders of centre pieces and towels. 



VII 

SMOCKING, FEATHER-STITCHING AND LAZY-DAISY 

STITCH 

SMOCKING is such a fashionable trimming this 
year that I am sure you will not be content- 
ed till Sally Ann has a smocked dress. Why, 
one cannot take a walk in the park without seeing 
several little children and some grown-ups, too, 
wearing smocked dresses. Sometimes they are made 
of fine lawn or pique and then again they are China 
silk, crepe de chine, or cashmere. 

Stamped patterns can be had for smocking but 
they are not at all necessary. Nearly every little 
English girl knows how to smock without buying 
a pattern and why should not you.f^ 

The simplest form of smocking is the honey-comb 
or diamond (Figure 106). It can be any size you 
wish. A good size for Sally Ann's dress is the 
half-inch diamond smocking. The beauty of the 
work lies in its regularity. To keep it so, the dots 
must be spaced evenly. A good way is to have 
a marking card. Take a piece of heavy paper or 

88 



NEEDLECRAFT 89 

thin cardboard about six inches long by an inch 
and a half wide. With a ruler draw a faint line 
one half inch down parallel with the long edge of 
the card. Draw four other lines below this at quar- 
ter-inch intervals. Be sure that the space between 
each two lines is a quarter inch, no more or no less. 
Along the top line measure in one half inch. From 
this point make dots at quarter-inch intervals all 
the way across. Each line is dotted in like manner, 
letting each dot come directly under the upper 




Fig. 106. Diamond smocking 

one in straight rows. If mother has a card punch 
ask her to lend it to you and where the dots are make 
holes. A stiletto will answer the same purpose 
as the punch; or an orange stick may be pressed 
into service. Your marking card is now ready. 
Measure the length you wish to make Sally Ann's 



90 NEEDLECRAFT 

skirt. Select a piece of material that will show 
pencil marks, such as lawn, pique, China silk, or 
crepe de chine. It will not be necessary to gore the 
skirt, as the smocking will form a sort of yoke for 
the dress. A little frock smocked in blue or red will 
be nice enough for all occasions. Take the material 
and smooth all the creases out after it is cut the right 
length. You must allow about the same amount of 
material for the width of the hem as you do for or- 
dinary skirts. Place the smocking card so that the 
edge of it is on a line with the top edge of the goods. 
The smocking must be done before the belt is put 
on. Through each of the perforated holes make a 
dot in lead pencil. After every hole has been dotted, 
move the card so that there is only one quarter of 
an inch space before commencing to dot again. In 
other words, place the card so the dots have the ap- 
pearance of being one continuous design. 

Thread a No. 6 sewing needle with a piece of red 
or blue cotton. Make a tiny knot at the end. 
Start from the topmost left-hand dot from the under 
side of the material. Draw the first and second 
dots together. Three stitches on the right side will 
suffice to hold them together. Between the second 
and third dots let the thread span the material on the 
wrong side without pulling it. The third and fourth 



NEEDLECRAFT 91 

dots are drawn together and then the thread spans 
the space between the fourth and fifth. Do you 
see how we are working? First a dot, then a space, 
a dot, then a space, until the entire Hne is finished. 

The second row is worked exactly the same only 
instead of starting on the first dot of the second row, 
start with the second. The third row corresponds 
with the first and now at last we have formed a 
diamond. 

If a little more colour 
is wanted than just 
the dot alone, pass a 
thread along the edge 
of each diamond under 
the dots. A sugges- 
tion which may prove 
helpful to you if the 
material has starch in 
it is that it is easy 

to crease each line of ^'S- ^^^- Smocking in points 

dots before starting to smock. If the material is 
soft the smocking should be stroked or gauged. 
There is a new term to learn, *' gauge.'* It is the 
same as stroking in sewing. The Enghsh women 
have all sorts of complicated patterns in smocking, 
but the one that is most popular is the diamond 




92 NEEDLECRAFT 

smocking I have told you about. After you know 
the principle you can make the smocking as deep as 
you wish and then try and smock in points. (See 
Figure 107.) 

Feather-stitching is almost as simple as smocking. 
It has various other names. Perhaps you know 
it by the name of "brier-stitch." The first and 
simplest form is the single feather-stitching. A 
thread as fine as No. 60 sewing cotton or a heavy 
Germantown wool can be used for it. 
Baby blankets or a blanket for yourself 
are pretty feather-stitched in wool. 

Like smocking, patterns can be had 
for feather-stitching. But the best 
embroiderers never use 
them, as their mechanical 
correctness makes the 

Fig. 108. Single WOrk tOO mUch like ma- 
feather-stitching 1 . 1 T 1 

chme work. 1 do recom- 
mend, however, a faint line drawn so as 
to have something on which to guide 
your line and gauge your stitches. 

Let us thread our needle with a piece Fig. 109. Double 

« 11.1 1 r\ 1'ij.i • feather-stitching 

01 coarse blue thread. On a little piece 
of muslin draw a faint pencil line across it. Com- 
mence from the upper right-hand side of the line 






NEEDLECRAFT .93 

Take a short stitch about three sixteenths of an inch 
on the right of the hne, slanting to the Hne. Let the 
thread come under the point of the needle in each 
stitch. The second stitch is taken on 
the left side of the line the same dis- 
tance over and the same in slant (Fig- 
ure 108). 

Double feather-stitching is two 
stitches to the right, two to the left 
and so on till the line is finished (Fig- 
ure 109). In fact you can make three, 
four (Figures 110 and 111), or five pig. no. Triple 
stitches or even more if you wish on ^eather-stitchmg 
each side. The prettiest little border can be made 
of feather-stitching in circles. Take 
a quarter or a fifty-cent piece and 
draw a faint line around it on the 
material about one inch from the 
edge. Move the piece till it over- 
laps the pencilled circle and draw 
another circle. Repeat as many 
times as necessary to go around the 
Pig. 111. Four on each skirt, slccvc, or scction you are 
decorating. A row such as this 
makes a pretty decoration around the sleeves and 
neck of a night dress or the ruffles of drawers. 




94 NEEDLECRAFT 

Marking cotton No. 20 or No. 25 should be used 
for feather-stitching underwear. 

Infants* dresses, bibs, or petticoats of lawn or 
any very sheer material of cotton or linen should 
be worked in fine marking cotton, either Nos. 25, 30, 
40, or 50. 

Just a word about threads. There are several 
different kinds. The most popular and best known 
are D. M. C, Madonna, Royal Society, and Utopia. 
The numbers run about the same. Some teachers 
recommend one certain kind, but the result obtained 
from using any of them is almost identical. 

There is a pretty little stitch that can be made 
with a foundation of double feather- 
stitching. We used to call it "seaweed- 
stitch" when we were youngsters. I 
remember I made a white cashmere coat 
for my doll and used the seaweed-stitch 
along the hem and above the opening, 
and on the cuffs and collar of the coat. 
It was embroidered in rose coloured filo 
silk. A row of double feather-stitching 
was worked in the usual way. At the 

Fig. 112. Sea- ^ ^ '' 

weed-stitch end of cach stitch a little Van Dyke 
point or V was worked. Try it yourself and see 
how dainty it is (Figure 112). 



NEEDLECRAFT 95 

A good way and something new for decoration is 
the feather-stitchery used like festoons on the hems. 
The way this is done is to take a compass and make 
a circle about two and a half inches in diameter. 
Cut it out in heavy paper or thin cardboard. Baste 
the hem in place and then trace one-third of the 
circle. Repeat in like manner till the hem has the 
appearance of large scallops. Along the lines work 
the single or double feather-stitching in No. 20 
marking cotton through the two thicknesses of the 
material. Pull out the basting threads from the 
hem and then carefully cut away the material 
within each scallop on the wrong side of the hem. 
In other words, the upper part of the under hem is 
cut close to the stitching. Cut right down to the 
feather-stitching. 

Only thin materials are pretty worked like this, 
as the doubled material gives a milk-white appear- 
ance, while the upper or single parts are transparent. 
A lazy-daisy stitch worked in the centre of each 
scallop adds further beauty to a feather-stitched hem 
such as has been just described. The lazy-daisy 
has been aptly called because it requires a stitch 
to connect each petal to the material. 

Another name for this lazy-daisy stitch is the 
"bird's-eye" stitch (Figure 113). It is used to rep- 




96 NEEDLECRAFT 

resent clovers, daisies, or leaves. The stitch is 
made, if for a daisy, from a common centre. Bring 

your needle up from the 
centre of the daisy and 
take a stitch the length of 
the petal. Let the thread 
come from the left under 
the point of the needle. 
Pull the needle through the 
^-siB- material on the right side. 

A short stitch at the end 

Fig. 113. The lazy-daisy stitch , , ^ ^ ' 

of the petal catches it 
down to the material. The needle is now brought 
back to the centre and the next petal made in the 
same manner. Any size daisy can be made like 
this from the quarter to a two-inch size. Remember 
that the larger your daisy is the more petals it should 
have. As fine thread should be used for the little 
flowers and the heaviest silk or lustre for the big 
ones, it is a wise plan to faintly mark in pencil the 
daisy. One line will be sufficient for each petal. 
If you do this, you can then be sure that each petal 
will be the same length as the last. 

A charming little yoke can be made of groups 
of fine tucks and rows of the daisies. 



VIII 

COUCHING, SHADOW WORK AND TURKISH STITCH 
HOW TO STAMP DESIGNS 

rE more one does of fancy work the more 
fascinating it becomes. Every new piece 
presents an opportunity for new stitches 
and colours. 

We have talked a lot in the first chapters of this 
book as to the different implements necessary for 
sewing and by now I am sure you have a well- 
equipped sewing box or basket. Now it will be 
necessary to add considerably to your work box 
for embroidery. 

The crewel needle which I mentioned in the sixth 
chapter is the most important implement. Get 
a pack of assorted Nos. from 5 to 10. They will 
answer every purpose unless you need a large 
tapestry needle for couching. The most unfortunate 
thing about a crewel needle is that the eye has the 
bad habit of breaking. This is caused from the 
steel being so fine at the top that vigorous working 
snaps it off very quickly. 

97 



98 NEEDLECRAFT 

A tapestry needle is like a large crewel needle, 
only it is much stronger and the eye is very large. 

A stiletto of ivory, bone, or steel should also be 
in your box. An orange stick can be substituted 
for a stiletto in case of emergency. 

A small pair of scissors, too, should be included 
to cut the ends of silks or pare away the material 
after buttonholing or making an eyelet. 

I have kept the most important till the last. 
That is the embroidery hoop or rings. Really 
you would be surprised to see how many different 
kinds there are in this world. First there are the 
black celluloid ones that have their good points, but 
they do not stretch over the material. Then there 
are the common wooden ones that have sharp edges 
that catch and fray the silk on every turn. There 
are some wooden ones that have a felt lining and 
whose edges are an improvement on the cheaper 
kind, but they also do not stretch over thick fabrics. 
The kinds that have a spring and may be adjusted 
to any size desired have their advantage, but the 
spring catches the silk also and of course that will 
never do for fine work. The simplest, best, and 
cheapest kind is the pair that is made at home. 
Get two pairs of the cheapest rings, even if their 
edges are rough. One pair should be small enough 




A Quiet, Comfortable Hour 



Photograph by Mrs. W. Durrant 



NEEDLECRAFT 99 

to set inside of the other. They vary from the 
smallest to the largest circular kind, each one setting 
inside of the other. Select two pairs that come next 
in size to each other. The most convenient size 
and ones that can be used for all kinds of work are 
the six inch. Take the larger hoop of each pair for 
your work. Now cut a piece of canton flannel in 
half -inch strips, or if mother has the coloured selvage 
left from a piece of flannelette, get that. The 
largest hoops should be wound over and over like 
the hoops they use in schools for fancy drills. The 
other hoop should be padded before winding it. 
To pad, lay strips two or three thicknesses deep 
around the hoop and then wind thickly like the 
other hoop. Hoops like these never leave marks 
on the material, as often happens with the celluloid 
or wooden hoops. Another point is that the sheerest 
material, such as chiffon, can be used in them, while 
if a heavy burlap or crash is embroidered over them 
a little of the winding strips can be removed for the 
time being. 

There are other things you might find handy for 
your box, but it is no use getting them till you have 
occasion to use them. 

Now we are ready to make use of some of the things 
just described. The tapestry needle will be brought 



100 NEEDLECRAFT 

into use for our next stitch, which will be couch- 
ing. 

It is a beautiful old stitch that is often used as an 
outline. It can be made as a heavy thick cord, or 
yet again it need only be the size of a fine string. 
The expression is often used, "Couch a cord on." 
Cord is used instead of threads and lustre on pieces 
where only the effect is wanted. 




rig. 114. Couching 

To couch with a number of silk or lustre threads 
select a No. 2 tapestry needle. Cut the skein of 
silk so that you will have the longest length of thread 
possible. Thread your needle with all the strands 
in the skein, if the eye will carry them. Make a 
stiletto hole in the cloth on the line of the design. 
Bring the tapestry needle through to the back 
(Figure 114). 

A crewel needle is threaded with a single strand 
of silk, the same shade or lighter or darker if you 



NEEDLECRAFT 101 

desire. Fasten the silk ends down neatly on the 
back of the material with the single thread and 
bring it up one quarter of an inch from the hole and 
span the cluster of silk threads. The threads are 
caught down in this manner at quarter-inch inter- 
vals. When the end of the line is reached, the cluster 
of threads is again taken through to the back of the 
material. 

Couching is a stitch that you will hear more about 
in later chapters. 

The Turkish or Ismet stitch 
is another name for cat-stitch- 
ing or herring-boning. See Fig- 
ure 98. The stitch is taken 
vertically instead of horizon- 
tally, as in cat-stitch. Tur- ^s- ^^^' '^'''^'^ '^^ 
kish stitch gets its name from the embroideries 
from Turkey (Figure 115). It seems to be the 
favourite stitch of the Turkish ladies. 

Have you ever noticed how many pieces of Turkish 
embroidery are worked on coarse unbleached muslin 
or tan linen .^^ The colours are generally bright 
green, blue, coral pink, chestnut brown, purple and 
then outlined in black or gold thread. 

Shadow work, is not that a funny name for em- 
broidery? But you can understand why it is called 




102 NEEDLECRAFT 

that when you see a piece worked. It gives the ap- 
pearance of a design under the cloth, as all the 
stitches are taken from the wrong side of the material. 
The design is drawn or stamped on the wrong side. 
Lawn is usually selected for the background of 
shadow work because of its transparency. A heavy 
cotton such as No. 16 or No. 20 marking cotton or 
D. fine lustre is necessary. 

Daisies or chrysanthemums are most popular 
for shadow work on account of the smoothness on 
their edges. Not that it is impossible to work 
an indented edge, but it is more diflScult. 

o'^ To work the shadow 

\ ^ stitch, place your work 

\ oo over your embroidery 

^ o « o o c § '»^^'° ^'^ \ hoop with the design side 

^>ooo«>*'^^l« ^t*'®"*'^'' up- Start to work a 

0* ^ \ % petal from the heart of 

2 / « the flower. Do not use 

T?- i,« T^v, • I.* J * a knot. The stitch is 

Fig. 116. The nght side of 

shadow stitch like cat-stitching (see 

Figure 98). First you take a stitch on one side 
of the petal, then you pass over to the other side. 
Be sure you take the same length stitch every time. 
The stems are worked in outline stitch. Shadow 
work from the right side looks like back-stitching 



NEEDLECRAFT 103 

(Figure 116). It is used on aprons, shirtwaists, or 
bureau scarfs where a good effect is wanted with 
very little work. 

There are two ways of working the leaves of 
daisies or chrysanthemums in shadow work: First, 
and the best in my opinion, is to start and work 
from the top of the leaf to where the midrib com- 
mences in the design. Now work from the midrib 
to the outer edge on the right side of the leaf. The 
left-hand side is yet to be filled in. Start from the 
base of the leaf and instead, however, of putting 
the needle through the material by the midrib 
catch one thread upon the midrib and then take 
a stitch on the left-side edge of the leaf, up to where 
the midrib ends. 

The other way of working a leaf is to outline the 
midrib first. Then start from the base of the leaf 
and work across the entire leaf. The former way 
is the better, because there is not such a wide 
stretch of thread on the wrong side as in the latter 
method. 

Batiste, organdy, and lawn are the usual materials 
used in America for shadow work, but in England, 
where more substantial materials are generally 
liked, tea cloths of linen in shadow stitch are often 
seen. Tiger lilies are good for any large piece. 



104 NEEDLECRAFT 

The effect of shadow work on linen is as if a padded 
design was placed on the material. 

White is the nicest for working shadow stitch on 
waists, especially as colour is apt to cheapen the effect. 

Remember that a design drawn out in pencil soils 
the cottons or silks and necessitates the article being 
washed before it is used. You can buy patterns 
for embroidery so cheap and in such excellent 
taste that it pays one in the end to use them instead 
of drawing on the material. There is the perforated 
design that can be had from five cents up. It is the 
oldest and in some ways the most expensive pattern. 
The perforated paper is laid, with the rough side 
up, over the material on the ironing table or any other 
flat surface. An especially prepared powder that 
embroidery shops sell for stamping designs is the 
best to use. A pouncet is several layers of felt rolled 
together, or a piece of wood covered with felt. 
Rub the pouncet in the powder. See that the pat- 
tern is weighted down so that it will not slip while 
you are working on it. Rub the powder in with a 
circular movement. Lift the weights from the 
lower edge of the paper, and gently raising the 
pattern see that the design is well on before removing 
the pattern. A hot iron will be necessary now to 
set the powder. Every time you use the iron just 



NEEDLECRAFT 105 

clamp it down on the design. Wipe it off on an 
old piece of cloth before you press it again on another 
section of the design. Each time the iron touches 
the powder, part of it adheres to the iron and the 
design would be spoiled if the iron was used again 
before wiping it. After the design has been set, 
the iron can be used freely over the whole work. 

There is another method of stamping with a 
perforated pattern, and that is placing the smooth 
side of the design face upward and using a blue paste 
that comes in cake form. The pouncet is dipped in 
kerosene or naptha and then rubbed on the paste. 
Apply to the paper as directed for the powder. This 
method requires no iron, but care must be taken not 
to get the pouncet too wet or the design will run. 

A third method for stamping is one that requires 
to be rubbed with the back of a spoon. The fourth 
and newest method of stamping is by the transfer 
designs. The patterns are in different colours. 
Place the transfers with the bright or raised surface 
next to your material and press with a heated iron. 
Some patterns require a very hot iron, while for 
others a moderately heated iron suffices. 

You can make a perforated pattern yourself by 
drawing a design on a piece of paper and using a 
sewing machine to perforate along the lines. 



IX 

BUTTONHOLING AND WALLACHIAN EMBROIDERY 

EMBROIDERY buttonholing is a little (lif- 
erent from the buttonhole stitch used in 
sewing. It is a stitch that is most used 
to finish the edges of centre pieces, scarfs, and, in 
fact, any article where embroidery is wanted to finish 
the work. You know that it is possible to use a 
fancy stitch, such as the Turkish stitch described 
in the last chapter, but in that case the material 
will have to be turned back and hemmed. The 
twill or purl of buttonholing, as the little ridge on 
the edge is called, serves as a resistance for the 
material from fraying out. 

The buttonhole stitch is the most popular in 
embroidery. It is the foundation for many other 
stitches. Feather-stitching is really an open form 
of this stitch. 

As a usual thing it is necessary to pad before 
working buttonholing. It raises the work and makes 
it much more durable as an edge. The padding can 
be done in either running-stitch or chain-stitching. 

106 




Buttonholing 



Pliotograpli by Mrs. W. Durrant 



NEEDLECRAFT 107 

Let us take for our first example the straight 
buttonhoHng. It is the simplest form. Cover the 
space between the lines with coarse, running stitches. 
Let the background be medium weight linen. The 
padding thread should be No. 16 or No. 20 marking 
cotton, or two strands of white darning cotton makes 
an excellent padding. The stitches can be fully 
one quarter of an inch in length. Take up a single 
thread of the background so that the padding will 
be all on the top of the material. This keeps the 
work well raised on the right side and perfectly 
flat on the wrong side. An extra row or two toward 
the outer edge of buttonholing raises the edge pret- 
tily. Chain-stitching is a more rapid way of pad- 
ding, but should only be used for coarse work. 
Remember that the wider the buttonholing the more 
padding will be necessary. 

The padding should be worked over your embroid- 
ery hoops, keeping the work as near to your fingers 
as possible. The actual buttonholing gets a rounder 
efiFect if done over the finger, though it is possible, 
of course, to do it over the hoops. 

Again, no knots in buttonholing. Thread your 
needle with No. 25 marking cotton. Make three 
little running stitches and one back-stitch to insure 
firmness in the starting. Let your thread come up 



108 NEEDLECRAFT 

slightly under the lower line of the buttonholing. 
With your left thumb holding the thread down to 
the material draw your thread to the right, take a 
stitch over the padding, bringing the needle out 
slightly below the lower line. The thread should 
fall under the point of the needle in each stitch. 

The next thing we learn in buttonholing is a 
scallop. The deeper the scallop the more difficult 




Fig. 117. A simple scallop 



it is to make a good corner and to keep the slant 
of the stitches right. When you buy a stamped 
piece of embroidery, select a pattern that has a 
shallow scallop and one where the points are not too 
sharp. In working a scallop the stitches should 
slant vertically in the direct centre, slanting the other 
stitches toward this point (Figure 117). 

The object in carrying the needle slightly beyond 
the stamped line is that all the stamping may be 




Fig. 118. A sharp gcallop 



NEEDLECRAFT 109 

well covered. A stitch that is taken directly through 
the line shows the stamping. 

The diagrams (Figures 117 and 118) show 
how to work a simple 
scallop and one with 
a sharp scallop. A 
good deal has been 
written about the 
cutting of scallops, 
but the safest and 
wisest is to wash the 
piece before cutting 
out the scallops. A 
pair of small embroidery scissors should be used 
to cut the material away close to the twill of the 
buttonholing. If a scallop is cut before it is washed 
it frays so much that the edge has an untidy look. 

Some women work a row of machine stitching 
close to the lower edge before padding it, as a 
preventive from fraying, while others insist on 
cutting the material to allow a hem on the wrong 
side only. Try the first way and see if you are not 
successful. Another point to bear in mind in button- 
holing is that the stitches should be taken very 
close to each other. If a piece of buttonholing is 
well done it is hard to distinguish one stitch from 




no NEEDLECRAFT 

the other, and yet they must not be made one on top 
of the other or the buttonhohng will be rough. 
Wallachian work gets its name from a little 
community in Pennsylvania. 
It is a German word and is 
nothing more than coarse 
buttonholing. It is espe- 
cially appropriate on heavy 
waists, centre pieces, pillow 
tops or work bags. A finer 

Hg. 118. A Wallachian ring f^^jn ^f [^ JooJ^g Well OH shccr 

waists. The rings or circles are worked from a cen- 
tre like the spokes in a cart wheel (Figure 119). 

The leaves or petals of a Wallachian figure are 
worked on the slant, and here is the difference from 
ordinary buttonholing and the distinctive feature 
of Wallachian embroidery. 
Usually the petals have an 
indented top and a line 
running through the cen- 
tre. Begin at the lower 
right-hand section and take 
a short stitch on the line 
as for outlining. The next 

stitch is taken close to this ^^- ^^^^ Wallachian stitch 

irom the midrib to the outer right-hand edge. The 




NEEDLECRAFT 111 

stitches need not be quite as close as in buttonholing 
and no padding is required. Continue in the same 
slant to where the centre line stops. The stitches 
from this point radiate till they are in a good slant 
to continue down the left side. Note the stitches 
in the diagram (Figure 120). 

Some people do not slant their stitches and the 
result is that the work is 
not as pretty and loses 
its chief charm. 

Placing your thimble 
on a piece of material, 
make a little circle around 
it and in the centre make 
a little dot to practise the 
Wallachian ring on. 

You will find that your 
thimble or spool is a great 
help to you also in mak- 
ing scallops. Draw a line 
with the ruler just below 
where you want your scallop to be. Inscribe half a 
circle with the aid ofpyour thimble or spool on the 
straight line. Just within this half-circle draw an- 
other half -circle that will touch the upper line of the 
scallop. A ten-cent piece or in fact any coin can be 




Fig. 121. A whisk broom holder in 
Wallachian stitch 



112 NEEDLECRAFT 

used like this. Embroidered pieces should be washed 
by themselves, especially if they are worked in 
colours. 

A little girl I was teaching some years ago was 
very slow in working a centre piece. She finished 
the piece one day just before her term was over. 
Thinking that she would surprise me, little Daisy 
decided to launder the piece herself. Her mother 
knew nothing about embroidery, so was not able to 
tell her how to proceed. So Daisy washed the piece 
and having seen how mother bleached the linens, 
Daisy desired to give her piece a sun bath. She 
spread it out in the sun and when she went for it 
the colour was half out. Poor little Daisy was 
heart-broken. She would not have had this trouble 
had she observed the following directions : 

Put the piece to launder in warm water and rub 
it with a pure soap, such as castile. Ordinary 
laundry soaps are too strong of lye to be used. If 
the piece is very soiled let it soak a long time, several 
hours. Usually washing the piece out in water is 
sufficient. Rub with the hand only. Rinse in 
clean water and lay the piece on a thick cloth or a 
Turkish towel. Roll the towel up and leave until 
the piece is almost dry. 

Lay the embroidery, with the worked side down. 



NEEDLECRAFT 113 

over a heavy padded surface. Press with a hot iron 
quickly. If the centre of the piece puckers, dampen 
it again till you have pressed it out thoroughly. 

If you fear to put the iron directly on the piece 
lay a thin white cloth over it and then press. Many 
a really beautiful piece is spoiled in the laundering. 



ROMAN CUT-WORK, FANCY BUTTONHOLING FOR 
BORDERS, WORK BAGS, BERMUDA FAGOTTING 

ROMAN cut-work or Colbert embroidery is 
one of the prettiest forms of buttonholing. 
The right way to work it is to make the 
stitches so that each one is distinct from the other. 
Some people insist on crowding the stitches as in 
regular fine buttonholing, which is quite a mistake, 
as its distinctness lies in dissimilarity to the ordinary 
buttonholing (Figure 122). 

The work is used for centre pieces, corners of 
lunch napkins, coat sets, as well as on heavy linen 
dresses. In Scotland the little girls make the entire 
yokes of their night gowns in cut-work as well as 
the top of their night gown case. These cases are 
placed on top of the bed pillows during the day and 
are marvels of fine handwork. This custom is 
not restricted to Scotland, but Italian, French, and 
German women are also proud of their night dress 
cases. 

The design for Roman cut-work should be bold 

114 



NEEDLECRAFT 115 

and not too close together. It should be stamped 
directly on the material. The American way of 
working it is to run a line of fine stitches on the 
outline and then work a row of buttonholing. The 
stitches are a little less than an eighth of an inch 
deep. The background spaces between the design 




Fig. 122. Roman cut-work 

are then cut away close to the buttonhole edge. 
Do not neglect to wet and press the linen before 
cutting the buttonholing. Keep the twill of the 
buttonholing on the outer edge of the design so that 
the background will be bordered with the twilled 
edges (Figure 123). 

The European method of Roman cut-work is to 
run the thread first and then cut the material so 



116 NEEDLECEAFT 

that there is an eighth of an inch extending beyond 
the running stitches. This is turned under till 
the running thread forms the edge and then the 
buttonholing is worked through both thicknesses 
of the material. This way prevents the linen from 
fraying. The design is basted over a piece of 




Fig. 123. A Roman cut-work centre piece 

coloured paper, letting the basting stitches follow 
closely the buttonholing. The wide spaces are then 
filled in with a simple lace stitch such as the twisted 
bar, woven bar, or spiders. Sometimes the spider is 
used in conjunction with one of the former stitches, 
and it is an excellent stitch for filling in the corners. 
Marking cotton No. 20 or No. 25 should be used for 
Roman cut-work, as well as the lace stitches. 



NEEDLECRAFT 117 

To make the twisted bar, plan the open spaces 
so that they will be well filled and yet not too 
crowded. Span from one side of the space to the 
other with the thread, then return and whip the 



u 


1 


ff , 



Fig. 124. The twisted bar 

thread or stitch three or four times. The stitches 
may be connected and have the appearance of a 
series of points (Figure 124). 

The woven bars are made by working two threads 
across the space about one eighth of an inch apart. 




Fig. 125. The woven bar 

Start from one end and weave. Take up one thread 
on the upward and the other thread on the downward 
pass. Continue in this manner till the whole 
bar is woven. The bars are placed at equal distances 
apart (Figure 125). 



118 NEEDLECRAFT 

The spider is a little more complicated. It is 
made on an uneven number of threads, usually seven. 
They may be double or single. To make the whip- 
ped or double-thread spider, span the space with 
the thread and then whip back to the centre and 
connect the thread to the buttonholing again at 
some little distance from the first stitch. Whip 
back to the centre again and take a stitch directly 
opposite. Continue in this manner till there are 
five, seven, or nine threads around the centre, 
then proceed to weave under one and over the next 
thread until a good-sized spider is made. Do not 
make too large a spider, as it detracts from the 
work. An illustration for the single spider is given 

in the chapter on lace 
stitches. 

The blanket stitch is 
a favourite for work- 
ing the edge of flannel 
skirts or quilted covers. 
Worsted or coarse silk 
can be used for it. It is made on the raw or folded 
edge of the material. Two stitches are long and two 
are short. Sometimes they are worked like a pyra- 
mid. Beginning at the base we increase each stitch 
till we reach the point and then decrease each stitch 




Fig. 126. Blanket stitch 




NEEDLECRAFT 119 

in length as we work back to the base on the other 
side (Figure 126). 

The triangular buttonhole is a pretty stitch for 
a conventional design that has long narrow sec- 
tions. It may also be used for working a very large 
simple scallop (Figure 127). The way we were 
taught in school was 
to mark the section 
to be worked in deep 
points. The twill of 
the buttonholing 
must come on the t. ,«« ^l x • , , 

Fig. 127. The tnangular buttonholing 

lines. The stitches 

are not very close to each other. The stitches are 
taken on the line across to the next line. Begin at 
the longest opening and make every stitch shorter. 
When the line is covered, turn the work so that the 
twill of the buttonholing touches the top of the 
stitches just made. If this stitch is used on the 
outer scallop it will be necessary to hem the material, 
letting the triangular buttonholing form the edge. 
Then there are fancy forms of buttonholing that 
are used especially in Mount Mellick work. The 
double buttonhole stitch is effective to fill in the 
large leaves. The stitches are taken in groups of 
two, then a little space and two more stitches. Con- 



120 NEEDLECRAFT 

tinue in straight rows. Sometimes one will see a 
leaf worked one half in double buttonholing and the 
other half in a close stitch. 

The honeycomb or mesh is a fancy name for 
another form of buttonholing. Work a row of 
buttonholing about a quarter of an inch apart. 
The distance may be changed to suit the design 




Pig. 128. The honeycomb stitch 

you are working on. In the second and all other 
rows, the needle is over the buttonhole loop directly 
above and a short stitch taken a quarter of an inch, 
or the distance you have decided on, below the loop. 
In starting each row bring the needle up a quarter 
of an inch, or more or less as you desire, below the 
previous row. The distance must be kept even 
to achieve satisfactory results. It is not necessary 



NEEDLECRAFT 121 

to start from one side always. The first row is 
worked from left to right, the second from right to 
left and so on, back and forth, till the space is 
filled (Figure 128). 

Bermuda fagotting is the name of a stitch that 
gives the effect of drawn work, when no threads 
have been drawn. It is used on scroll designs as 
well as to outline a simple floral pattern. Lawn, 
dimity, China silk, handkerchief linen, or nainsook 
are the prettiest materials for this stitch, as it de- 
mands a fine, transparent background to give the 
right effect. 

Sewing cotton No. 100 or 150 
and a special needle are the only 
requirements for this work. The 
needles can be bought from any 
art needlework shop for five cents 
each. It is like a large-sized 
carpet needle with a small eye. 
A carpet needle can be substi- 
tuted if it is not possible to 
obtain the regular needle in your locality. Tie 
one end of the thread to the eye of the needle. 
While practising this stitch it will be necessary 
to make guide lines. On each side of the design 
line make a row of dots an eighth of an inch apart. 



Pig. 129. Diagram of 
stitches 




122 NEEDLECRAFT 

The dots above the line must be directly over the 
lower dots. Note the diagram (Figure 129) of this 
stitch. I have numbered the first six dots. 

Take a stitch from one to three and tie the end 
of the thread under this point. Make the stitch 

a second time from these points, 
pulling the material between 
them closely. Pass the needle 
underneath and connect one and 
two with two stitches. Then 
^'irlZ J'-B:^^iirJ- pass to point four and connect 
***^**°s two. Three and four are con- 

nected in the same manner. It is only necessary to tie 
the thread when commencing the work or a new thread. 
The needle is so large that it makes quite a hole in the 
material and the thread is so fine that the manner of 
working is not clear to the average eye imless a de- 
tailed explanation is given (Figure 130). 

When working on a curved line or a corner it 
will be necessary to make an extra stitch on the outer 
or longer side only. 

The scroll lines or stems of a conventional shirt- 
waist design are more dainty when made in Bermuda 
fagotting. The corners of handkerchiefs or a design 
on underwear or yokes and collars lend themselves 
to this style of adornment. 



XI 



SATIN-STITCH AND MARKING 



THE more interested we become in em- 
broidery the more we find how much more 
there still is to be learned about it. 

There may be embroiderers who are experts in 
one branch of the subject and yet who will do very 
unsatisfactory work in another. For instance, one 
girl may be very proficient in fancy stitches and yet 
may not do the simple stitches or vice versa. Few 
American girls excel in the satin-stitch, not because 
it is hard, but it must be perfectly accurate. The 
average German, Swiss or French child can do better 
satin-stitch at the age of twelve than 
the average American woman does. 
From the time the children in those 
countries can hold a needle in their 
hand they are taught to sew and em- 
broider. 

Satin-stitch is a stitch that is taken 
over and over across a space. Sometimes it is quite 
heavily padded and at a first glance gives the ap- 

123 




Fig. 131. A letter 
in satin-stitch 




124 NEEDLECRAFT 

pearance of a piece of material heavily raised. 
Fine designs should, however, be slightly padded. 
There are three ways in which padding may be 
done. There is the running or un- 
even darning, the chain, or the 
filling-stitch. A great deal de- 
pends on the smoothness of the 
padding. The chain-stitch should 
only be used for coarse work. The 
padding should not cover the 
stamped outlines, for they are 
Fig. 131A. Satin-stitch needed as a guide for the satin- 
stitch. The padding is usually worked in a heavier 
thread than the outer stitches. Darning cotton 
that comes in four strands is often used, 
two strands is sufficient. 

The prettiest satin-stitch is taken straight 
across. The stitches should not be crowd- 
ed, but should be worked so that when the Satm stitch 
embroidery is finished the stitches are hard 
to distinguish one from the other. 

The Old English letter "E" (Figure 131) shows 
a good example of satin-stitch and outlining. The 
latter was used on the single lines. The entire 
letter may be carried out in satin-stitch by first 
running the single lines with uneven darning stitches 



One or 





Pig. 182. Satin-stitching 
and seeding 



NEEDLECRAFT 125 

and then covering these with fine satin-stitches. 
Make the padding stitches as close together as pos- 
sible, or the satin-stitches will be uneven. 

The letter "C" (Figure 132) offers an op- 
portunity of combining two 
colours. After the satin-stitch 
has been done, a little back 
stitch is worked through the 
centre of the heavily padded 
sections. This combination of 
stitches is pleasing when colour 
is used, as the satin-stitch is in 

one colour and the centre stitches in 
another. A great many of the reg- 
ular sewing stitches can be used in- 
stead of the embroidery ones. For 
the very fine lines, back-stitching 
can be used, making the stitches 
finer than those used in ordinary 
sewing. 

The letter "A" of Figure 133 shows a good com- 
bination of satin-stitch and back-stitching. 

Satin-stitch can be worked straight across or on 
the slant. Most of the modern work is straight, 
though a great many Germans still prefer to slant 
their stitches. The work should be held toward 



C.. 




Fig. 133. Satin-stitch 
and back-stitching 



126 NEEDLECRATT 

you and the needle straight. The padding should 
be worked lengthwise on the design and the satin- 
stitch in the opposite direction. 

The Chinese do beautiful embroidery, usually 
in satin-stitch which is not padded and the finest 
of silks are employed for the work. 

Another way of marking is to make a row of 
French knots along the outline design. A single 

line script letter lends itself best to 

// /j \ this kind of work. 

// // \ 1 1 \ For bath towels an outlined let- 

vv ^ / 1 1 / ter is better than a padded one. 

'/ / The letter on a school bag or a 

(^J,'' heavy Turkish towel should be 

Fig. 134.. A simple let- vcry simple as the wear they get 

ter in back-stitching i t p 

does not warrant the spending of 
too much time on them. If there is a monogram 
to be made it is prettier if the initials of the Chris- 
tian name be light and the surname heavy. 

We learned about outlining in the first chapter 
of embroidery stitches, but outlining in combination 
with outer stitches is a little surprise for you. 
We have the German to thank for most of the good 
combinations of stitches or letters. After the letter 
has been outlined in white, we will say, a thread of 
colour is taken. Starting from the upper left-hand 



NEEDLECRAFT 127 

side the needle is passed under the first stitch of 
the outlining, up through the second stitch and down 
again through the third. 







Fig. 136 
letter 
stitch 



till every stitch has 
been taken up on the 
needle (Figure 135). 

The threaded needle ^^^' ^^^' ^ pretty combination stitch 

should not pass through the material 
except at the beginning and end of each 
line (Figure 136). 

Another manner in which a letter may 
be embroidered, especially an old Eng- 
lish letter, is to work it solid in white 
fancy ^^d outliuc it in colour. The Van 
Dyke point is good also where a 
broad space is to be filled. It is ^- . 
sometimes called the bird's-eye '' // // // / 
stitch. o iJ (L.y 

Start at the top and on the left ^'g- i37. a simple 

way to work a letter 

side of the letter or space it is to 
fill. Insert the needle on the right side and take a 
stitch to the centre on a slant like a buttonhole 
stitch. Fasten to the material w^th a little short 
stitch. Bring needle out at the extreme left and 
repeat directions until the space is filled. Each 
stitch forms a V (note Figure 138). 



128 NEEDLECRAFT 

Sometimes you will find a very elaborate letter, 
the outline of which has been worked in satin- 
stitch or French stemming. Little eyelets or satin- 
stitch dots are worked 
between the lines. 

When two or more 
letters intertwine they 
are called a mono- 
gram. It is not every 
set of letters that 
will make good mon- 
ograms. Letters that 
have a good swing 
should be selected so 
that though they in- 
tertwine each letter 
should stand forth 
clearly. It is permis- 
sible to use the sur- 
name initial a trifle 
larger than the Chris- 
tian initial. When 
monograms are com- 
posed of three letters and one of the smaller letters 
is placed on either side of the larger one the effect 
is very pleasing. The smaller the letters, the finer 




Fig. 138. Van Dyke stitch 




Fig. 189. A letter in 
Van Dyke stitch 



NEEDLECRAFT 129 

the thread should be. No. 50 or 60 marking cotton 
can be used for letters one half- inch in size. A 
three-quarter inch letter should be 
carried out in No. 45 marking cot- 
ton. A one-inch letter requires No. 
35 cotton, while the two-inch letters 
take No. 30 and so on. The larger 
the letter the coarser the cotton. 
The beauty of a monogram is to 
have something original. Perhaps 
you want to work your bag. Take a tea cup 
and place on the material in the position you de- 
sire the monogram. Run a faint pencil Hue 
around the cup. Draw a block letter in the cen- 
tre so that it touches the upper and lower edges of 

the circle. Your two Chris- 
tian initials are then placed 
one on each side of the 
centre letter. Try to fit the 
ir^ 'il letters so as to keep the cir- 

cle perfect. It may be you 
will not really draw block 
*■ ■ ^ "^^ letters, but so much the bet- 

ter, as the monogram will be more original. If it 
is impossible to make a complete circle with the 
letters, embroider the sections of the circle between 




130 NEEDLECRATT 

the letters in stem-stitch. Stem-stitch, you will 
remember, is an outline-stitch covered with the over- 
and-over or small satin-stitch. 

A monogram of this sort is especially appropriate 
for a man's handkerchief. A twenty-five-cent piece, 
or a fifty-cent piece if it is a very large handkerchief, 
should be used for the circle. Seeding (Figure 
139A) may be combined with satin-stitch in working 
monograms. Seeding is nothing more than a series of 
little back-stitches. A good effect is obtained by 
working one letter in satin-stitch and the other in 
seeding. It will be necessary to outline the outer 
edges of the seeded letter. 

You have probably noticed the gold emblems and 
lettering on the sleeves of army officers' regimentals. 
They are generally worked in bullion, though some- 
times gold thread is used. Bullion comes in gold and 
silver and at the first glance looks like the Oriental 
gold or silver threads. The difference is, however, 
that bullion is tubular, while the threads are usually 
composed of two or three strands twisted together 
or over and over a thread of red cotton. The red 
cotton makes a strong foundation for the gold threads 
and, by the way, do you know that all silk that comes 
on spools has a fine thread of cotton running through 
the centre.'* The purer the silk the less cotton is 



NEEDLECRAFT 131 

used, but the latter is very necessary, as the threads 
will not stand very much strain if they are all 
silk. 

Now let us get back to emblems in bullion. It is 
necessary in bullion work to have a fine cardboard 
foundation which is called *'the cartoon." Trace 
your design on the cardboard and then cut the design 
out. Baste the cartoon to the background, which 
may be of any material you desire. Broadcloths, 
silks, satins, and velvets are the materials usually 
selected for the work. Thread a fine needle with a 
piece of silk. Fasten the thread on the wrong side 
of the material and bring the needle up through the 
right side. Let us suppose that you are working the 
block letter A. Start from the apex of the letter. 
Cut a piece of the bullion just the size of a very small 
bead. Slip the needle through the cut piece of 
bullion and span the point of the letter. Continue 
in this manner till the cardboard is closely covered 
with the bulhon. Each piece of bullion is cut to 
fit the space it is to cover. 

In working a five pointed star, start and pad each 
section lengthwise, if it is to be embroidered in silk 
or cotton. For bullion work the cartoon is always 
necessary. 

Work each section of the star from the point to 



13a NEEDLECRAFT 

the centre. Work from left to right, so that each 
section that is worked is to the left. 

Papier-mache letters can be bought that may be 
used as a padding. They are very satisfactory for 
anything that is not to be laundered, but continual 
washings flatten the papier-mach6, while if the pad- 
ing is made of cotton it lasts as long as the 
background. 

Handkerchiefs for yourself can be daintily marked 
in very fine feather-stitching in D. M. C. marking 
cotton No. 80. Remember to keep the stitches 
in a pretty slant. 

There are numerous places that a letter or mono- 
gram can be used. A girl I know who is at a board- 
ing school has marked all her bed linen and towels. 
For each pair of sheets and two pillow cases she 
uses a different style letter or monogram so that her 
linen is in sets. 

Cross-stitching is appropriate for bath towels, 
although face towels are often very attractive worked 
in this stitch. 

The question often arises as to which is the 
right place to put a letter or monogram on a 
table cloth, napkin, pillow case, or sheet, and 
though you may not be interested in any of 
these articles at present, it is well to know these 



NEEDLECRAFT 133 

little points when helping to mark the household 
linens. 

Napkins are usually marked with the letter in 
the direct centre when folded. Of course, like 
many other things, there are fads for changing 
the position. One extreme style is to mark the 
letter in the direct centre of the napkin. This 
style necessitates folding the napkin in a fancy shape 
so that the embroidery will be seen at its best advan- 
tage. 

There are two good ways to mark a table cloth. 
One is to place the lettering midway between one 
corner of the table and the hem. When the cloth 
is on the table the letter is below the top. The 
second and newer way is to have the letter on the 
top of the table on a line with the plates. If two 
sets of letters or monograms are used place them at 
diagonal corners. 

On sheets the letters should be placed two and a 
half inches above the hem. The letter is worked so 
that when the sheet is folded back the base of the 
letter is toward the foot of the bed. 

Pillow cases or towels are marked in the centre of 
one side, two inches above the hem. 

Again let me impress upon you not to embroider 
white washable material in silk, thinking that be- 



134 NEEDLECRAFT 

cause silks are more expensive they are better. 
Silks are apt to discolour in laundering. Cottons 
are now manufactured that have a high gloss like 
silk and yet they never discolour. 



•i«iUn,.,,^^l^^,,^,M»*«nn*?>«~.«>n«»raM««*«»*<'*<^'*x 



Pig. 140, A handkerchief comer in satin-stitch 

Another pretty and new way to mark letters 
on lawn or fine linen handkerchiefs is one that gives 
the effect of Bermuda fagotting *and yet it is only 
hemming with a large needle (Figure 140). Draw 
the letter in pencil on the handkerchief. Thread 
a large tapestry or chenille needle with a piece of 
No. 200 linen thread. Cotton thread may be used 
but it is very apt to break. Tie one end of the thread 



NEEDLECRAFT 1S5 

to the eye of the needle so that it does not slip out. 
Thread another needle with a strand of No. 8 
marking cotton and pass it to the back at the be- 
ginning of the letter. Unthread the needle, allowing 
a half inch to extend out of the back. Let the No. 8 
cotton follow the lines of the letter and 
take a stitch into the material with 
the large needle. Work from right 
to left, holding the No. 8 cotton 
from you. Pull the fine thread tight 
around the stitch you have taken. Fi^!T4i7A simple 
Now pass your needle around the »«tter for towels 
same group of threads of the material, holding 
the stitch over the heavy cotton. Work around the 
entire outside of the letter, then turn and work the in- 
ner line. Stitch again through the hole already made, 
taking up the same group of threads. Sometimes 
this style is called ladder-stitch, as the heavy cotton 
gives the effect of the side of the ladder and the 
groups of threads represent the rungs. Any design 
that is uniformly narrow can be carried out in 
ladder-stitch. 




xn 

EYELETS AND FRENCH KNOTS, BULLION STITCH, AND 
OTHER FANCY STITCHES. 

THE most beautiful of the embroidery stitches 
is the eyelet, and it is also one of the hard- 
est. A piece of embroidery that is thickly 
covered with eyelet-work and possibly a. little satin- 
stitch and buttonholing is commonly termed 
Madeira embroidery. One will often see a piece 
of the Maderia embroidery so closely covered that 
it is almost impossible to put another stitch in 
between the em.broidered spots. About fifty years 
ago it was a matter of impossibility to buy machine 
embroidery, and eyelet-work was one of the last 
things made by machine. It was an easy matter 
to distinguish the hand- work from the machine- 
work up to about five years ago. A certain regulari- 
ty of the stitches and the kind of thread used pro- 
claimed it machine to even the amateur. Now-a- 
days the crafty manufacturers stamp the material 
to imitate the hand-made embroideries and use a 
thread of the same quality so that sometimes the 

186 



NEEDLECRAFT 137 

professional embroiderers find it hard to distinguish 
it from the real. 

If you should ask a boy who has watched his 
mother working one, what an eyelet is he will prob- 
ably tell you that it is cutting holes in the material 
and sewing them up again. To his mind this is a 
great waste of time. 

Besides being or- 
namental, the eye- 
lets often play an 
important part. 
They are used to 
run ribbon through 
in corset covers, 
night - gowns and 
other pieces of un- 
derwear, as well as 
on bags, baby bootees, (Figure 142), caps and car- 
riage covers. No machine beading can impart the 
elegance that a well-made eyelet does to a personal 
garment. Eyelets can be either round or oval. For 
a small round one run a tracing thread on the outline. 
Let each stitch take up but one or two threads of 
the material. Use No. 35 or finer marking cotton 
for small eyelets. With your stiletto pierce a hole 
m the outlined edge till it is just the size of the 




Fig. 142. Baby's bootees 




138 NEEDLECRAFT 

stamped eyelet. Now with the same thread sew 
around the opening with close over-and-over stitches. 
The stitches should only be the width of the stamped 
line (Figure 143). They must be even, else you 
will have a "Pig's-eye." 

For the large round eyelet, as 
well as the oval, in all sizes it will 
be necessary to cut the material 
within the outline which has first 
been traced with the running 
thread. The cuts should be made 
lengthwise and crosswise, right to 
the tracing thread. The cut ma- 
terial is turned under to the wrong 
side and the eyelet worked as just de- 
scribed. After the embroidery is finished 
turn the material over and any part of 
the cut cloth that extends beyond the ^. ,,, ^ 

Fig. 144. The 

stitches trim off. Your fine embroid- ""^^d eyelet 
ery scissors should be used for the cutting. 

Sometimes you might like to make an eyelet to 
represent a grape. Some embroiderers call it a 
shaded or padded eyelet. After the eyelet has 
been traced make another row of tracing or padding 
below the lower half of the eyelet. Start from the 
centre side of the eyelet and make the second 



Fig. 143. The way to 
work an eyelet 




NEEDLECRAFT 139 

tracing deeper on the lower portion of the eyelet. 
If any space is left between these two rows of 
tracings fill in with other rows of un- 
even darning (Figure 144A). 

When eyelets are used on the outer 
edge of a design, they should be but- 
tonholed. 

The next stitch to claim our attention 
is French knots. In France they are 
known as the English knot. They are used to fill in 
the centres of flowers. When working a piece of 




Fig. 144A. 
A padded 
eyelet 




Fig. 145. A simple centre piece in eyelets- 



golden rod the natural effect is best produced by 
using French knots very close to each other. A 



140 NEEDLECRAFT 

row worked on each side of a row of feather 
stitching makes a pretty decoration on babies' 
dresses, caps or even on yokes of dresses for your- 
self. 






%•' 







Fig. 146. An eyelet design for a pillow 

A heavy thread is good to practise making the 
knot. The actual size or kind of thread to use 
should depend partly on the kind of material and 
partly upon the other style of work or stitches that 
you intend combining with it. 

To work the knot, fasten the thread securely on 
the wrong side and bring the needle through to 
the right side. Now hold the thread down with 
your left thumb. With the right hand put the 
needle over and under the thread until there 



NEEDLECRAFT 141 

are three or four coils of the thread around the 
point of the needle. Now hold these coils down 
with the left thumb. Turn the needle so that its 
point will go down through the material as close as 
possible to the place through which it came 
(Figure 147). 

A pretty idea for making knots for dress trimmings 
is to thread the needle with two 
strands of silk, each of a different 
colour. 

Bullion stitch is an elongated 
French knot. It is used consider- 
ably in Mountmellick embroidery, 
to represent grains of wheat. Small 
leaves and daisies are oftentimes 

carried out in bullion stitch. Fig. 147. French knots 

To make the stitch we will say that we are work- 
ing on the conventional daisy. Bring the thread 
up to the base of the petal. Insert the needle so 
that the length of the petal lies on top of it. (See 
Figure 148.) Twine the thread around the 
needle point until there are as many coils as the 
length of the petal. The left thumb should hold 
the coils in place while you are twisting them. The 
needle is now drawn through the material. It is 
put through the same hole, or as near as possible 




142 NEEDLECRAFT 

to the one from which it came. Keep the left 
thumb holding down the coils until the stitch has 
been fastened. 

Another way to accomplish 
bullion stitch, which has the 
same appearance, but which 
really is a very much slower 
method, is to lay a heavy thread 
the length of the stitch desired 
and then neatly wind the cot- 
ton over it. It requires a heavy 
cotton to work this successfully. 
An embroidery needle should not be used for 
either French knots or bullion stitch, as the eye 




Fig. 148. Bullion-stitch 




Fig. 149. An elaborate piece of buttonholing and satin-stitch 

is apt to stick when pulling it through the 
coils. A large sewing needle should be substi- 
tuted. 

Any girl can make dainty and original designs for 
eyelet work if she will invest in compasses. As 



NEEDLECRAFT 143 

has been stated before, eyelets vary in size. The size 
that is most effective for decorating heavy hnen 
or cotton is an eyelet a little less than half an inch 
in diameter. A larger eyelet is often used, but it 
requires a good deal of patience and experience to 
keep it in shape. 

With the compass hundreds of designs may be 
used. The most popular as well as being the most 
attractive is the simple daisy. A circle is drawn to 
represent the centre. A quarter of an inch over 
from the centre circle, or less if you wish to, draw 
six other circles so that they form a ring around 
the centre dot. 

A design such as this can be used on a ruffle of a 
petticoat or between tucks on dresses while for a 
whole linen piece there is nothing handsomer for 
a scalloped or hemstitched centre piece, doily, bureau 
cover and many other articles on which a bold^ open 
effect is appropriate. 

The Wall-of-Troy design is a good one for com- 
pass work, only it is suggested to faintly rule the 
design then inscribe the circles so that their centres 
are on the line. For instance, suppose you want to 
make a border design about an inch and a half deep. 
Take your rule and keeping on a straight thread of 
your material draw a two-inch line, then leave a 



144 NEEDLECRAFT 

space, then draw another line, so on to the end. An 
inch and a half above these lines draw another row of 
lines just over the spaces of the first row. Connect 
the ends of the lines together. Plan so that there is a 
circle at the points or corners of each line. Between 
these dots on the horizontal lines make two more 
circles, while on the vertical lines make only one. 
These instructions are for a circle the size described ; 
for a smaller eyelet it will be necessary to add 
more circles to the lines. 

A stiU simpler design is one that is made on a 
square, that is^, wiih a dot at each corner and one in 
the direat centre. The dots must be kept the same 
distance apart. 

The Italian girls will make the most elaborate 
designs of compass work on strips of firm, heavy 
muslin for ruffles for underwear. They are not 
like the American and French girls, who will only 
wear the sheerest kind of light material. The ad- 
vantage the Italian girl has over her French and 
American sisters is that when she embroiders a 
garment it lasts for years, even if it is constantly 
used, while delicate embroidery is apt to have a 
very short life on account of the background. To 
the American girl this is no drawback, as she is 
always craving for new things. 



NEEDLECRAFT 145 

Sometimes a thimble, spool, or even a twenty -five 
cent piece is used instead of the compass when a 
large eyelet is required. 

An edge of eyelets is very handsome on a collar 
and cuff set or handkerchief. They should be placed 
so that after they are worked they touch each other. 
The entire eyelet may be carried out in button- 
holing or the lower half may be buttonholed and 
the top worked in the regular way. After the work 
has been completed dampen the edge and press 
before cutting out the material from underneath 
the lower edge of the eyelet. 

It is possible to work the eyelet without any 
buttonhole stitches and yet use it for an edge. In 
that case a little padding is required and the stitches 
should be close together. 

A linen hat that has a simple scallop edge and a 
simple design on the brim and crown is a treasure 
that usually only the wealthy enjoy. It is nice 
to know how to embroider, but unless we put to use 
the things we know our knowledge is like a white 
elephant on our hands. After a careful study of 
the diagram of the stitches you desire to make and 
reading the description as to how to make it, a 
little child could almost work a hat, but the mounting 
of a hat is not so simple. Yet, what is the use of 




146 NEEDLECRAFT 

taking time to embroider one if you do not intend 
to make it up? 

Eyelet work is particularly dainty on a hat as 

it gives a lacy effect. 

ff ° " '/'^-r^^^^k^ The material should be 

^c^^^tfl^^/^^^ a medium weight linen 

so as not to be too stiff. 
At one time butcher's 

,-v :a^_,>> .- '" — linen was thought to 

Kg. 150. A lingerie hat be the Only kind to 

be used, but of later years a softer linen is pre- 
ferred. Lingerie hats have been used for years, 
probably long before you were born. Every year 
the shape varies a little. One year it is a narrow 
brim sailor, next year it is a wide brim, then again 
a high, next a Tam-o'-shanter crown. The last 
four years it has been the mushroom shape. For 
most faces there is nothing more becoming and 
girlish than the latter (Figure 150). 

Sometimes the mushroom shape is covered with 
hand-embroidered ruffles, while again a circular 
piece having the crown cut out is used. The size 
of hat varies by what fashion dictates, so it is hard 
to say just how large your linen should be cut. A 
twenty-two or twenty-four inch circle makes a neat 
little shape. 



NEEDLECRAFT 147 

After the embroidery has been worked as described 
in the first part of this chapter, the frame is prepared 
for mounting it. A wire frame is lighter and more 
satisfactory than a buckram frame. 

The first thing to decide is, how are we going to 
face the hat.?^ Tucked ruffling, net, dotted swiss, 
or fine ruffles of Valenciennes lace may be used. 
Most people prefer to cover the entire frame with 
cheap, fine lawn before facing or covering the hat. 

This is done by placing the hat on the lawn, the 
brim touching the material, and cutting a circle a 
trifle larger than the brim. Cut a circle out for the 
crown and slip the lawn over the frame. If the 
crown is too large to allow the lawn to be slipped 
over it a wide bias band of the lawn can be used to 
cover the brim. The bias strip should be just the 
depth of the brim. For the crown, cut a circle large 
enough to cover the top and use a bias band around 
its sides. 

Tack the muslin to the frame by long basting 
stitches. It will be necessary to pass under the wire 
when taking a stitch to keep the material in place. 
The tucked ruffling can be bought by the yard, 
trimmed with a row of narrow lace. The entire 
thing is banded. To adjust a ruffling of this sort 
place the band around the edge of the crown and 



148 NEEDLECRAFT 

tack the ruffle in position at short intervals and at 
the extreme edge of the brim. 

Net or dotted Swiss is pretty shirred or corded 
or even put on plain. A strip three times the 
length that it would take to go around the brim 
plain is cut the depth of the brim. This band is 
cut on the straight of the goods. A shirring string 
is run on both sides. The strip is placed in 
position and pinned taking care to distribute the 
gathers evenly. The shirring string under the crown 
is pulled up first and the material over-handed to 
the frame. The gathering thread on the outer edge 
of the brim is also adjusted like this, only instead of 
over-hand stitches, fine running stitches are pref- 
erable. Then a small heading is made on one side 
of the strip that is to be shirred. The heading 
makes a pretty, soft finish at the edge and does not 
require any great length of time to do. Allow 
three quarters of an inch, or more, in the depth of 
your ruffle if it is to have a heading. Turn one 
edge of the material to the wrong side. The turn 
should be a little more than a quarter of an inch 
deep. The gathering thread is run a quarter of 
an inch from the folded edge of the material. When 
the thread is pulled up the heading is formed. 

If the material is to be corded, baste a narrow 



NEEDLECRAFT 149 

round cord like a corset lace inside the material. 
The cord is placed where it is desired and the material 
is folded over it as for a tuck. A running thread 
is worked close to the cord to keep the two pieces 
of material together. The threads are afterwards 
drawn up to bring the fulness of the ruffles to fit 
the outer edge of the hat. 

Three rows of cording are quite sufficient on the 
edge and the other two rows at equal intervals 
from the outer brim to the crown. 

The ruffles of Valenciennes lace are adjusted by 
puHing the drawing string on the edge of the lace, 
and basting the first row of lace on the extreme edge. 
The second row just touches the first, and so on, 
filling as many rows of lace in as required. 

The embroidered piece is then washed and the brim 
placed. The edge is tacked at intervals while around 
the crown the stitches are taken very close together. 

The Tam-o'-shanter crown is pulled in shape by 
a gathering thread, if it is cut in a circular shape and 
the gathering is all on the edge. Cut the circle large 
enough to make a pretty Tam-o'-shanter. 

The embroidery decoration may be in the direct 
centre of the crown. If the design is a small one 
it can be scattered over the crown to give an all 
over effect. 



150 NEEDLECRAFT 

There are many ways that a lingerie hat may be 
trimmed and it is hard to say which is the prettiest. 
A black ribbon band and a bow is simple but severe. 
White taffeta ribbon may be used the same way if 
an all white hat is wanted. In fact any shade 
of ribbon is attractive used like this. The illustra- 
tion shows a pretty way of trimming a lingerie hat 
for a girl of about fourteen. A narrow coloured 
ribbon is used around the crown and a rosette of 
leaves with rose buds and forget-me-nots is at- 
tractively placed on one side. 

Sometimes coloured linen is used for the hat and 
in that case the embroidery may be worked in the 
same shade as the linen; or white. The hat is then 
trimmed with white or black. A coloured hat is not 
as practicable as a white one, as the former is apt 
to fade and may not be as becoming as the white. 

A baby's buttoned hat is made of two circular 
pieces scalloped out at the edges, one piece being 
four or five inches smaller than the other. The 
large one is used for the brim. The head size is 
cut out of the direct centre and then bound in tape. 
Three inches from the crown opening sew a circular 
row of buttons, a half inch apart. Use a washable 
linen, lace, or crochet button for this purpose. 

One inch from the edge of the crown make as 



NEEDLECRAFT 151 

many buttonholes as you have buttons. A pair 
of daintily hemstitched strings that are attached, 
one on each side of the crown opening, completes 
this charming little hat. It can be easily unbuttoned 
and laundered flat. These hats are made of duck, 
pique or heavy linen. They are the nicest thing 
you can make for your little sister for the summer 
when she wants to play in the sun. 



XIII 

LONG AND SHORT, KENSINGTON EMBROIDERY, AND RIB- 
BON WORK FOR SIMPLE FLOWERS 

IT IS the ambition of every one who starts to 
embroider to make a piece of flower work and 
though the floral designs are most fascinating 
to embroider they are by no means as artistic as 
the conventional. 

The way to embroider a piece of flower work and 
obtain an original colouring is to get a natural 
flower and place it in a vase in a position that you 
can clearly see the light and shadow. The best 
flower to start with is a daisy. Note that the 
petals are not a dead white, but there is a suggestion 
of green toward the centre of the flower. Get 
mercerized cotton to work with at first until you 
become accustomed to the stitch. 

There is no cut and dried rule in regard to the 
colouring, but the art of shading a piece naturally is 
a lesson that is very essential for the embroiderer. 

To many people the term embroidery means flower 
work and only after a course of instruction they 



NEEDLECRAFT 153 

discover for themselves how much more artistic 
and in keeping with most rooms is a conventional 
design. 

Flower work, however, is not to be despised as 
you will learn more about colour combination and 




'' *-' 



•/*» » 




*' ft" 




<►*-'' 1 




^ * ' 




" . * t 




'• K *' 1 




1 




/ / 




/ 





Fig. 151. Long and short stitch 

Kensington stitch in one piece of this style than any 
kind of embroidery. 

All flower work has long and short stitch on the 
edge of the petals or leaves that do not turn over. 
Daisies do not have turn over leaves as often as a 
double rose or chrysanthemum. Suppose we draw 
a very large daisy on a piece of white muslin. With 
your needle threaded with white lustre start from 
the right-hand side. Take one stitch on the line. 



154 NEEDLECRAFT 

Place your needle back near the same point from 
which you started. Take a short stitch that goes 
a wee bit outside of the stamped line past the first 
stitch. The object of going beyond the line, is that 
the stitch completely covers the stamping. 

The third stitch is taken at the same slant, only 
longer. The fourth is a short one and so on, first 
one short and then one long until the top of the petal 
is reached. Remember, though, these stitches are 
only on the edge. The left half is worked the same, 
but the stitches slant a little differently. A good 
rule to mention right here is, that all stitches should 
slant to the heart of the flower. In leaves they slant 
toward the base. The inside of the petal, when the 
long and short stitches are completed, should be 
irregular (Figure 151). 

The Kensington stitch gets its name from an 
English school of embroidery. It is more like out- 
lining than any other stitch. 

After the edge of the flower has been worked in 
long and short stitch, the Kensington stitch is used 
to give the solid effect. 

The piece must be held all the while in a tight 
fitting pair of hoops so that it can not sag in the 
least. 

If the petal is long, two or three rows of Kensing- 




Fig. 152. The Kensington stitch 



NEEDLECRAFT 155 

ton stitch will have to be worked to fill it in. If 
silk is desired, two strands are used for the edge 
and one strand for the 
Kensington stitch. The 
stitches are dovetailed in- 
to each other. Each row 
must have an irregular 
lower edge, else they will 
look like bricks laid one 
on top of the other. The 
stitches should be so 
worked that it is diffi- 
cult to tell where one ends and the other begins 
(Figure 152). 

Three shades of green are sufficient for the leaves 
until you are quite expert. In working them em- 
broider on the edge of the lower half of each leaf 
with the second shade and the upper part with the 
lightest. Work one side first using the second shade 
under the lightest and the third under the second. 
Work to the midrib only. It is not necessary to 
to work in the veins, but if they are desired they 
are put in after the leaf has been worked. Do not 
hesitate to cover the stamped veining on the leaf 
you are working, as the next leaf will be a guide to 
where to place the veins. They may be in the light- 



156 NEEDLECRAFT 

est or deepest shade of green, while sometimes a 
reddish-brown is substituted. 

The centre of the daisy may be satin-stitch or a 
cluster of French knots. If the dot is worked from 
the centre to left and from the centre to right you 
are more apt to get a perfect outline than when 
starting from one side and working to the other. 

As a usual thing the lightest shade is on the outer 
edge of most flowers, but there are a few exceptions, 
like wild roses and some species of pansies in which 
the deepest shade is on the edge and toward the 
centre it is lightest. 

The stems may be worked in satin-stitch or 
Kensington in wood shades or deep greens, which- 
ever give the more realistic effect to the flower. 

It is a great mistake to use white for the back- 
ground of flower work. Cream or pale gray make 
a very much softer and more pleasing effect. 

Sometimes a little of the stem brown can be 
worked into the leaves. 

Have you ever seen a lace spread or centre piece 
with flowers embroidered on it? You might think 
that the worker was more than ordinarily clever, but 
really any one who can embroider flowers can do 
this. Baste a piece of fine lawn on the section you 
desire to embroider and stamp it with a spray. 



NEEDLECRAFT 157 

Embroider in the usual way and when the spray 
is finished neatly cut away any of the lawn that 
extends beyond the flower without cutting the lace. 
The result is that the piece has the effect of a natural 
flower resting upon it. 

The finer the silk used the more delicate shading 
can be accomplished. 

• There is another way to represent flowers that is 
particularly beautiful. It is known as ribbon work 
or rococo embroidery. The ribbons especially 
made for this work vary from slightly less than 
one quarter of an inch to a little more than a 
half inch in width. The colours do not range in 
such long lines as the silks. In fact it is rare to 
find a shop that carries more than ten colours. 
Sometimes the ribbons are shaded. They are soft 
and do not crease quite as readily as an ordinary 
ribbon. 

A No. 6 crewel needle is about the right size for the 
narrow ribbon, while the half inch ribbons need a No. 3. 

Forget-me-nots, conventional- 
ized small asters, and little roses 
are suitable for the narrow rib- 
bons. Satin, moire, broadcloth, 

, .,, t p 1 Fig- 153* Ribbon flowers 

or heavy silk are used tor the 

background and the daintiest of needle cases, jewel 




158 NEEDLECRAFT 

cases, handkerchief bags, belts, and other little 
accessories may be evolved from a small piece 
of silk and a few yards of ribbon. The design is 
stamped on the background and all the single lines 
or stems outlined with filo silk. Let us imagine 
we are working on a spray of forget-me-nots. The 
needle is threaded with six inches of the narrow 
green ribbon. Slip your needle from the under side 
of the material drawing all the ribbon through but 
a quarter of an inch. One stitch is generally 
sufficient for a leaf, though sometimes the leaves 
are wider and require two or possibly three stitches. 
The ribbon serves the same purpose as silk. The 
one point to remember is that the ribbon should 
not be twisted. Naturally in pulling it through the 
material several times it becomes so wrinkled that 
a short piece works to better advantage than a 
long one. The flower is made in the same way, one 
stitch for each petal and when completed a French 
knot is made in the centre of the flower (Figure 153). 

The ends caused from starting and finishing off 
are fastened or caught down with a piece of 
fine thread on the wrong side. 

Do not pull your stitches. The work is very 
much prettier when it lies soft and full on the 
background. 



NEEDLECRAFT 159 

It is well to make use of every piece of fancy work 
you do and yet sometimes a new thing may strike 
your fancy and you would like to make a small 
piece. 

A card case is acceptable to every girl and it is 
a good plan to make them to match your visiting 
dresses. 

Take a piece of material five by ten inches long. 
Three inches from one of the short edges stamp a 
design that will not occupy a space larger than three 




Fig. 154. A card case 

inches long and two inches deep. The length of 
the design must run parallel with the short edge of 
the material. The bottom of the stamping must be 
five and a half inches from the short edge of the 
material. 

A little spray of lilies of the valley on a green silk 
background makes a dainty case (Figure 154). 

Get a piece of stiff tailor's canvas and cut it to 
measure eight and three quarters inches by four 
inches wide. A piece of china silk the same size 
as the satin will be needed for the lining. It is 



160 NEEDLECRAFT 

best to select the shade of silk that harmonizes with 
the outside material. With a green cover a lining 
lighter or darker is suggested. The latter is preferred 
as the constant fingering of a light colour is apt to 
soil it. 

Cut all three pieces so that they are true oblongs; 
two and a quarter inches from the short edge make 
a crease. Two and a half inches from the first crease 
or four and three quarters inches from the outer edge 







jl 


1 




1 


' 


i 


p 




1 

1 


\ 

« 

i 






; 


J 

', , 



Fig. 155. The foundation of the card case 

make another crease and cut along it, thus separating 
the stijffening in two. 

Two and a half inches on both sides of the now 
short edges of the piece that is not creased draw a 
line from side to side and crease. 

On the extreme right-hand side measure down 
one and a half inches from the corner and make a dot ; 
measure up from the lower corner and make another 
dot. The space between the dots should measure 
one inch. Take a twenty-five cent piece and place 



NEEDLECRAFT 161 

on the space between the dots so that the edge of 
the material is under the direct centre of the quarter. 
Make a semicircular curve on the canvas around the 
quarter. Cut along the pencil lines (Figure 155). 
The stiffening now ready, baste it to the lining. 
See that all creases have been smoothed out of the 
China silk lining before basting. Place the two 
pieces of canvas so that there is an equal margin on 




Fig. 156. The canvas interlining 

all four sides. The cut edges of the canvas must be 
placed one eighth of an inch apart as shown in the 
diagram (Figure 156). On one side is the 
four and three-quarter inch piece and the other is 
the four inch. Pin or baste the canvas through 
the centre to keep it in position. With a threaded 
needle cat-stitch the silk to the canvas, care being 
taken to see that the stitches do not appear on the 
silk side. Cat or catch -stitching is another name 
for herring-bonmg, which is explained in the sixth 
chapter. 




162 NEEDLECRAFT 

Before turning a cornel-, cut off a small piece of 
material to prevent the corner from being bulky. 
Treat each corner in like manner: when you come 
to the little curved part, slash the material so that 
when it is folded over the can- 
vas it will fit perfectly smooth. 
Fold the canvas and lining 
along the creases originally made 
in the canvas. An iron pressed 
over them will help to make 
them stay in position. 

The embroidered piece 
is then placed over the 
wrong side of the canvas . 
A half -inch turn is made on all sides. Turn this half 
inch toward the wrong side of the canvas. Sometimes 
a layer of cotton batting is laid under the embroidery 
between the canvas and satin. The satin piece is 
basted to the canvas. The folded edge of the satin 
and the folded edge of the silk are overcast with tiny 
stitches. Fold back the two sections of the case and 
over-cast each side (Figure 157). Your card case 
is now completed. 

A bill folder is made in the same way, only that 
the ends are not stitched together to form pockets 
as in the card case. 




Fig. 157. The inside of the 
card case 



NEEDLECRAFT 163 

It is always well to know how to make pretty, 
attractive pieces of needlework that will make ac- 
ceptable gifts for Christmas or a birthday. 

Nearly everybody has a hobby. Sometimes it is 
saving receipts, sometimes keeping newspaper clip- 
pings, and then again it may be keeping theatre 
programmes. It is well to consider what gift is 
most suitable for the one that is to receive it; to 
make for the faddist an 
envelope to keep her 
clippings will be just 
the thing. 

Take a piece of brown 
linen ten and a half inches 
by nine and a half inches. 
Fold it in half so that it 
measures five and a quarter inches by nine 
and a half inches. Stamp a spray of daisies 
or wild roses on one side and mark what the envelope 
is supposed to hold, such as receipts or clippings. 
Brown hnen does not soil as easily as white. 
Embroider the flowers and the lettering, then dampen 
the linen thoroughly and press on the wrong side. 
Now take two pieces of cardboard that measure 
eight and a half inches by four and three quarters. 
Cover the cardboard with the linen, use long stitches 





1/ 


/ 


\j 


^^ 


H^ 


——-——- 


•-jL-— 


^ 

V 


1 

% 
? 




1 "^ 

• 






V 


/i 



Fig. 158. 



The way to make an 
envelope 



164 NEEDLECRAFT 

as described in the needle case, except that two 
pieces of the cardboard are placed side by side on 
the brown linen. Now take two pieces of brown 

paper the same size as 
the cardboard and cover 
the stitches. Paste 
should be used to make 
the paper stick to the 

Fig. 159, The envelope linen. 

Make six envelopes by taking six pieces of paper 
nine by thirteen inches and cut a two and a half 
inch square from each corner (Figure 158). One 
inch over from where the squares are cut make 
a star. There are eight such points as you note. 




Y/mmMmmMwmM 



^ 




Fig. 160. The case completed 



NEEDLECRAFT 165 

Connect the dot to the corner by a line. Cut the 
paper along the hnes. Fold the ends in, then fold 
the bottom flap over these and paste. Fold the 
top flap over without pasting (Figure 159). 

Now, holding these six envelopes in the case with 
bottom edges touching the space between the two 
cardboards, punch three holes through linen, card- 
board, and envelopes. 

Take a half a yard of ribbon and run through the 
holes and tie the ends in a bow on the corner. 

Take another half a yard of ribbon and cut in 
two. Fasten a piece on each side of the cover 
(Figure 160). These two pieces are tied in a bow 
and keep the base of the case closed. 



XIV 

HARDANGER EMBROIDERY FOR SQUARES PIN 
CUSHIONS, AND SPREADS 

WE HAVE to go back to the foreign embroid- 
eries to find those that are beautiful and 
yet substantial enough to last beyond the 
usual life of a piece of fancy work. There is nothing 
we have originated in embroidery on this side of 
the world as rich as Hardanger work, and yet it is 
comparatively little known. The background for 
this work is a loosely woven material like scrim or 
basket weave materials such as Java canvas or the 
regular Hardanger canvas which is imported. 

It is lots of fun working Hardanger in wool on 
Java canvas as it goes so quickly, and after we have 
learned the stitches we can work it on as fine a 
canvas as we desire. 

The simplest stitch is the block. Thread a large 
tapestry needle with a piece of heavy wool. On 
your piece of Java canvas work a little block. The 
worsted is on the right side of the canvas, and then 
taking a stitch over four threads of the canvas bring 

166 




NEEDLECRAFT 16T 

the needle up on the next opening to the right on the 
same line as the first. Five stitches constitute a 
block; a space of four threads is then 
left and the next block started, (Fig- 
ure 161). A great deal of Hard- 
anger has these blocks running at 
right angles to each other with no 

space between the blocks. Mistakes , 

cause a great deal of trouble and ^'g- i^i. The block 
sometimes it is necessary to rip out quite a lot of 
stitches before they can be rectified and for that rea- 
son you must be very accurate in your counting. 

The star is another favourite figure in Hardanger 
work (Figure 162). Four stitches are taken 

over four threads of the ma- 
terial, side by side, then five 
stitches over eight threads of 
the material and then four 
again. This forms one side 
of the star. The second side 
Fig. 162. The star ^g ^^^^^ exactly the same only 

that at the base of the thirteenth stitch the first stitch 
of the second side starts forming a right angle. The 
star has four sides as you will note in the ( diagram 
of this stitch. Now count and see if there are twelve 
threads on each of the inner sides of the star. If 




168 NEEDLECRAFT 

you find any mistake go over it and straighten it 
out. There must be twelve threads on each side. 
Cut four from each corner. This will leave four 
threads directly in the centre of each side. With 
a piece of embroidery cotton about the weight 
of a thread of your canvas weave the bars. The 
weaving is very simple, over one and under the next 
till the bars are woven. Some of these bars have 
little knots on the outer centre edge of each. 
They are called picots (pronounced pe-co) and they 
are made somewhat like a French knot. The 
bar is woven half way across and laying the needle 
on the bar the thread is wound around the 
needle point. Hold each twist down with the left 
thumb (Figure 163). The needle is drawn through 

and the result is a little 
knot on the thread near 
the stitches. A little 
stitch is taken into 
the woven part of 
the bar and the thread 
carried over to the 
other side of the 
bar and another picot 

Fig. 163. The picot , 

made. 
For an ornamental stitch to be used on the mate- 




NEEDLECRAFT 169 

rial between the stars or blocks make a diagonal 
stitch like the first stitch in cross stitching 
(Figure 164). 

Pin cushion tops are easy to make and the follow- 
ing instructions are given for cushions about four or 
five inches square. Take a square of scrim or Har- 
danger canvas eight inches large. It will be neces- 
sary to pull a thread so that the material will be 
quite straight on the edges. Pull out four threads 
about one and a quarter inches from the edge on 
each side of the material. Turn a quarter-inch fold 
on one side and crease the material again so as to 
make a half-inch hem. Baste it down so that it 
just touches the drawn threads. Repeat on the 
four sides. Be sure that at the corner the double 
thickness of drawn threads are exactly over each 
other. We are now ready to hemstitch the hem. 
Thread the needle with No. 90 sewing cotton. 
Run the thread under the hem and holding the 
double part of the hem toward you take up four 
threads of the material. Pass the needle again 
around this group and now into the hem. Con- 
tinue in this manner around the four sides. At 
the corners it will be necessary to take up both 
thicknesses of the material. 

Crease the finished square in four. Count six- 



170 NEEDLECRAFT 

teen threads upon the crease from the hemstitching 
and with lustre No. C or heavy Hnen thread " aa " 

make a Httle block of 
four strands of floss over 
four threads of the ma- 



'X'Cx 



Fig. 164. A simple ornamental stitch 



terial. 



Make a flight of 
eight blocks each at right 
angles to the other. Now instead of continuing 
in the same direction turn and work seven more 
groups down and to the left. Turn again to the 
left and work seven blocks for the third side of the 
square. Six groups to the right of the third row 
completes the square. 

Now with your fine embroidery scissors cut close 
to the stitches of the three blocks at each corner. 
The cut threads are 
drawn out. Four 
more cuttings will be 
necessary on each 
side. They should be 
made against the 




stitches only; that is, 
the threads that are 
running in the same di- 
rection as the stitches 

should be cut. Figure Fig. les. a good arrangement of picol 



NEEDLECRAFT 171 

165 shows where the cuts were made and the 
threads drawn out. The remaining threads are 
woven. A mercerized or dull finished marking 
cotton is used for the weaving. It may be either 
the plain weaving or may have picots on each 
side of the bar. Another pretty arrangement of 
picots is to place them on one side of the bars so that 
they appear in groups of four each facing the other 
(Figure 165). 

Sometimes a lace stitch is used such as the spider 
or simple loop stitch. Directions for making a 
spider will be found in the chapter on lace stitches. 
The loop stitch is made by taking a stitch in the 
centre edge of each bar. Take a stitch just as if 
you were buttonholing. 

Buttonholing the edge is preferred by many to 
hemstitching. 

A pretty stitch often seen border- 
ing a row of drawn work is made in 
pyramid form. It can be as deep as 
desired. First take a stitch over two 
strands of the material then three, then 
four, then five and down again to two Fig. lee. The 
(Figure 166). This stitch must be p^'""^*^ ''''"^ 
worked of course before any of the threads are 
drawn. 




172 NEEDLECRAFT 

If a little larger and more elaborate square is 
wanted, take a piece of material nine or ten inches 
square. Make a star, skip four threads and work the 
open squares described for the smaller pin cushion. 

On the opposite side of the square, directly across 
from the first star, skip four threads and make an- 




Fig. 167. The Hardanger square pin cushion 

other square. At the other two corners of the 
square make a star (Figure 167). 

The German peasant girls are proud of their 
aprons with a border of Hardanger embroidery. 



NEEDLECRAFT 173 

It is a common thing for them to have a border 
fifteen or eighteen inches deep. Often they will 
make yards and yards of a pattern, say four inches 
wide, and they will insert it above the hems on sheets 
and towels and cut out the background material. 

There is no nation on earth as thrifty as the 
Germans. A German girl I know who is only nine- 
teen years old has her entire bedroom fitted up with 
Hardanger articles that she has made herself. 
First there is the bedspread and bolster, each most 
elaborately embroidered with an all-over design. 
Then there is a round pillow (the edge buttonholed) 
and a square pillow as well as the bureau scarf and 
pin cushion. If she bought the articles already 
worked she would have paid hundreds of dollars for 
the outfit, while the actual cost was only a few dol- 
lars. Nearly all the best of fancy-work shops sell 
small pamphlets on Hardanger work that are not ex- 
pensive and after one is familiar with the foundation 
stitches it is an easy matter to follow the designs 
they give. 



XV 

APPLIQui ON LINEN AND OTHER MATERIALS 
AND HEDEBO EMBROIDERY 

APPLIQUE, or laying one material on an- 
other and stitching or embroidering 
them together is one of the simplest forms 
of embroidery that even the Indians years ago knew 
how to do. How many of you have not seen on an 
Indian woman queer shapes cut out of leather and 
ornamented with beads used for a border on her skirt? 

There are two kinds of applique, underlaid and 
overlaid. Most of the work is the latter kind. The 
underlaid is a little more diflficult to do. It will 
be explained at greater length later in this chapter. 

Applique is such easy work that you will almost 
think it a mistake not to have heard about it before, 
but after all it is really necessary that we should 
know the simpler embroidery stitches before we 
attempt an applique piece, so that we can decorate 
it in the manner to suit ourselves. 

The European peasants work some of the crudest 
specimens of applique, yet their colour schemes and 

174 



NEEDLECRAFT 175 

choice of material are good. For instance, Russian 
crash, which is sold at the towel department of 
many of our large department stores, from twelve to 
twenty cents a yard, and which is very narrow, 
usually about sixteen inches wide, is often employed 
as the background of their portieres. 

Before the Russo-Japanese War it was possible to 
get Russian crash as wide as forty inches. It is made 
by the peasants in their homes from the waste ends 
left from weaving linens. You have no doubt read of 
how poor Russian peasants live in hovels in the same 
room with the cow, if they are fortunate enough to 
possess one, and their pigs. Necessarily the work 
they do is not very clean but the artistic qualities 
of the crash overcomes the fact of the dirt. 

The better class of peasants will take three strips 
of crash and connect them together with coarse 
sewing or lace stitches and then apply circles of 
broadcloth, or coloured linens on them. Other 
geometrical figures are often applied. 

I heard of a Southern family the other day who 
are so thrifty that they allow nothing to go to waste, 
not even the old coats and trousers that have played 
the double role of clothing the father and then have 
been cut down for Johnny. After Johnny has had 
all the wear possible out of them Grandma again 



176 NEEDLECRAFT 

cuts them, this time in the shape of leaves, and 
sews them on a large muslin circle, one overlapping 
the other. This forms a mat for the dining room. 
I am telling you this story not that you may 
imitate it, but rather to let you know that after all 
we have women here that are as clever and thrifty 
with their needles as the European women. 

For applique work the design is cut out and the 







f^ m pNi 




.^:^M% 



*W^ 






Fig. 168. A pillow in Hedebo embroidery 

wrong side covered almost to the edge with a paste 
made of starch and water. 

When a complicated piece of applique is to be 
worked, stamp your design on the background. 
Then on the right side of the material to be appliqued, 
or on the wrong side of velvet, lay a piece of transfer 



NEEDLECRAFT 177 

paper. Place the design on them. With a blunt 
pointed instrument go over the line firmly till you 
have a tracing of the design. If the lines are not 
quite clear go over them with a pencil. 

Cut out each piece and paste it to the background. 
The edges may be machine stitched or satin-stitched 
or outlined. A cord, also the couching stitch, makes 
a good finish. 

Very clever representations of animals can be 
made by applique. Take a duck, for instance. 
The breast can be white felt, the head dark green 
velvet. The wings dark brown and the back 
and tail a lighter brown broadcloth. The legs and 
the bill should be canary -coloured taffeta silk. Cut 
each section so that it slightly laps over the 
other. 

Applique underlaid is accomplished by stamping 
the design on the wrong side of the material and 
then cutting it out. The background is left intact 
like a stencil. A piece of material of a different 
colour is laid under the cut piece of material. The 
raw or cut edges may be treated in many ways. 
The material may be turned back and stitched by 
machine or the edges may be finished with button- 
holing stitches, couching, fine satin-stitch or chain 
stitch. The turning back of the cut edges requires 



178 



NEEDLECRAFT 



that they be neatly done or the embroidery will not 
show to its best advantage. 

Hedebo embroidery is in no way connected with 
applique work, but like the latter it is a branch of 
needlework that few people in America understand. 
Without exception it is the most elaborate form of 
white work. The stitches give the effect of being 
very diflBcult, but this is not so. The work requires 
a lot of time and careful planning of the stitches for 
which buttonhole stitch is usually the foundation. 




Fig. 169. An elaborate design in Hedebo 

Hedebo is worked on a finely woven linen. The 
design is stamped directly on the material. A 
thread of D.M.C. No. 25 or spool linen thread out- 
lines the figures. Within the design, the linen is cut 



NEEDLECRAFT 179 

one eighth of an inch from the running thread. 
This eighth-inch extension is then turned under the 
stitches and basted down. A small piece of dark 
green oilcloth is then laid under the figure to be 
worked and basting stitches hold the material and 




Fig. 170. Part of a Hedebo collar 

oilcloth together. The oilcloth protects the fingers 
and it is often used by foreigners in making eyelets. 
A small piece is used and it is moved as many times 
as necessary. A large piece is too clumsy to hold. 
On the extreme double edge of the opening of the 
design fine buttonholing stitches are taken. The 
stitches are about one thirty-second of an inch apart* 



180 * NEEDLECRAFT 

A section of a design suitable for a collar is shown 
here and the stitches will now be explained that have 
been used on it (Figure 170). 

A bar is formed by laying two or three threads 
so that they span the opening from side to side. 
Over these threads fine buttonholing is worked. 

The little triangles are worked by making seven 
or nine stitches into as many of the buttonhole 
stitches. The second row is worked into the first, 
one stitch from each end is omitted. Continue in 
this way to the point (Figure 171). 

The three large loops that separate the pyramids 
or triangles from each other in the two outer circles 
are worked by making two loops that will each take 
up half the space between the triangles. These 
loops are whipped two or three times to make them 
heavier and then they are covered with buttonholing. 
Work the first and half of the second and then make 
the loop for the third or last and work it also in but- 
tonholing, then finish the second (Figure 172). The 
centre of the circle is made by connecting the oppo- 
site triangles and loops together. Gently distribute 
the threads from the centre to allow a small open- 
ing. Put a thread around this opening and neatly 
buttonhole the threads. 

The middle figure is made by working a row of 



NEEDLECRAFT 181 

open buttonholing then running a drawing thread 
into the loops and buttoning this band with tiny 
stitches. 

The stitches of the middle circle are somewhat 
simpler than the ones just 
described. A circle of open 
stitches is made directly 
under the buttonhole stitches 
on the material. Divide 
this circle in eight parts and 
make a large loop at alter- 
nate eighths. A connecting Fig. 171, 
thread at the centre base of 




Triangle in Hedebo 
embroidery 



each loop connects each op- 
posite pair of loops. The 
triangles are worked from 
the centre to the outer 
edge. 

The open triangles are 
made by working a row of 
open loops around the 
Fig. 172. Buttonholed loops three sidcs. The loops 
are drawn slightly together with another thread. 

There are many pretty edges that can be used as 
finishes for work. The linen pieces, however, have 
to be hemmed first and then the fancy edge put on. 




182 NEEDLECRAFT 

An edge of pyramids is attractive. An edge of button- 
holed loops with a picot in the centre of each bar 
as described on Hardanger is also good. Some- 
times the loop or pyramid may need stretching in 
shape. Take a pin in the lower centre and pull 
the edges out the desired size. 

In turning curves an extra little loop may have to 
be worked so as not to crowd the large points. 



XVI 



HEMSTITCHING FOR HANDKERCHIEFS AND COLLAR 

AND CUFFS SETS, ALSO SIMPLE DRAWN-WORK 

STITCHES 

DRAWN work is another of the fascinating 
branches of fancy work and when used in 
combination with embroidery it greatly 
enriches the piece. Suppose now that you wanted 
to make a handkerchief and yet did not want to 
take the time to buttonhole the four edges. Well 
there is nothing more appropriate than hemstitching. 
The very expensive handkerchiefs only have two 
threads drawn before hemstitching them but it 
will be easiest to 
hemstitch when 
more threads are 
pulled. 

Handkerchief 
linen that can be 
bought from one 
dollar up per yard 
is of course the 




Fig. 173. Hemstitch 



183 



184 NEEDLECRAFT 

correct thing to use, but lawn or fine china silk is 
often substituted. 

A third of a yard of linen thirty-six inches wide 
will make three handkerchiefs. A thread will have 
to be drawn so that the squares will be perfectly 
straight. A twelve-inch square of linen will make 
a nice little handkerchief. Narrow hems not more 
than one-quarter inch wide are more generally used 
at present so we will plan our handkerchief for that. 
Measure up from the edge of one side five eighths 

of an inch and draw 
out four threads one 
at a time. The other 
three sides must also 
be treated in like 
manner. After meas- 
uring the first side 
with the tape meas- 

Fig. 174. Hemstitching, second step ^j.^ ^^^ ^^.j^^j. g-^j^g 

are more accurately measured by turning up one 
corner of the side that has the thread drawn so 
that it forms a right angle. The upper edge of the 
angle must just touch the drawn threads. Crease 
firmly along the diagonal as shown in the diagram. 
Now with the piece still folded over pull the first 
thread of the second side of the handkerchief so 



4 

• 


^(iir^ipiiiiiifKiiiiiiiiiiifiiii 







NEEDLECRAFT 185 

that the corner when turned back forms a perfect 
square (Figure 173). 

When the threads of the four sides have been 
drawn fold back one eighth of an inch, then make a 
double fold so that the hem is just one-quarter inch 
wide. Baste it down so that the folded edge lies 
right under the drawn threads. With your needle 
threaded with a piece of No. 100 sewing cotton, 
start from one corner. Let the end of your 
threaded needle fall between the two thicknesses 




Fig. 175. Another way to hemstitch 

of the material. Bring the needle through the 
edge of the hem. Work from right to left; pass 
the needle under four of the upright threads. Now 
pass again under the same group of four threads, 
but this time carry the needle through the edge. 
Hem directly on a line with the fourth thread of 
the group (Figure 174). 



186 NEEDLECRAFT 

Another way is to hold the material with the 
hem toward you and work from left to right. Pass 
the needle under four threads letting the thread in 
the needle fall under the point of the needle. Pull 
the needle through, thus forming a loop and taking a 
stitch into the hem in the usual way (Figure 175). 

If your thread gives out or breaks, start the next 
thread by working over two or three of the stitches. 
In hemstitching the corners take up four of the 
double threads. 

When hemstitching on coarser material more 
threads can be drawn and also a greater number of 

threads can be taken up 
when working. 

Dainty little collar and 
cuffs sets can be made by 
hemstitching the hems: 
and a quarter of an 
inch above this work 



nftrinrimnnrf 



Fig. 176. Double hemstitching ^^^^J^^ ^ j.^^ ^f FrCUch 

knots or feather-stitching. 

Sometimes when a very open effect is desired it 
is necessary to double hemstitch the threads. This 
is very simple. Hemstitch in the usual way, then 
turn the work and take up each group on the other 
side of the drawn threads (Figure 176). 



NEEDLECRAFT 187 

Drawn work is worked to perfection in Mexico. 
There they have large classes for the mountain 
children who do most elaborate pieces on frames. 

Hemstitching is not always necessary in doing 
drawn work. Many beautiful borders can be made 
with simple stitches. 

The sheaf stitch (Figure 177) is made by pulling 
the threads for a space of a quarter of an inch or 
more. Decide the width that you desire and then 
cut the threads perpendicularly. Draw the first 
and last thread to the distance desired, and then cut 
opposite end to match the first slash. After the 
threads have been "drawn out neatly buttonhole the 
cut edges with narrow buttonhole stitches. Now 

place your work in your em- 
broidery hoops, or, better still, 
if it is possible, buy a pair of 
oval ones that are especially 
made for drawn work. Fasten 
Fig. 177. The sheaf stitch tj^pead in the centre of one the 

of the bottonholed sides. 

The number of threads to take up will depend on 
the coarseness of the weave of the material. For 
medium weight linen take up either six or eight 
threads using a stitch like that shown in the first 
step of the second method of hemstitching. Pass 





188 NEEDLECRAFT 

on to the next stitch and when the row is finished 
fasten in the second buttonholed side. The 
thread that passes from sheaf to sheaf should lie 
straight enough so as not to sag between each group 
or pucker the material. 

Another pretty stitch that reminds one of a fish 

f bone is worked 
somewhat like 
feather - stitching. 
Prep are the 
space as for the 
sheaf stitch. 

Fig. 178. A simple stitch in drawn work Connpct the 

thread in the same way. Take up six threads on 
the left hand side placing the thread under the point 
of the needle as it comes through. Now on the 
right hand side divide the group made by the first 
stitch in half and take the last three threads and the 
three next to it that are not worked (Figure 178). 

A simple stitch is the twist stitch (Figure 179). 
Prepare the material in the same way as for the 
last two stitches and securely fasten j^our needle 
in the centre of the bar, skip the first three threads. 
Take up the next three on your needle; pass the 
needle back under the first three. Continue like 
this till the end of the row is reached. 




NEEDLECRAFT 189 

A dainty all-over effect suitable for yokes or 
corners of handkerchiefs, cloths, etc., is made by 
drawing the threads out so that the material left 
forms squares. Pull a quarter inch of threads then 
leave a half inch of 
material. Repeat in 
this manner until the 
space is covered. 
Cross the lines, form- 
ing squares of the ma- 

. . 1 /-r-T- -I r.i-k\ Fig. 179. The twist-stitch 

terial (ligure 180). 

The double hemstitching, sheaf-stitch, fishbone, 
or twist stitch can be worked on the drawn 
threads. You will note that you will have at each 
corner of the solid squares an open quarter-inch 
square. They will require an extra stitch such as 
the spider described in the lace stitches or the loop 
stitch described in the Hardanger chapter. 

Sometimes it is hard pulling the threads of linen. 
If the threads are soaped they come out very easily. 
Do not wet the soap but just rub it dry on the 
material. 

Some of the finest examples of hand embroidery 
or drawn work are found in the convents. Perhaps 
you are under the impression that drawn work must 
be done right with the hem, but that is not so. I 



190 NEEDLECRAFT 

want to describe a beautiful handkerchief to you 
that I once saw in a convent. It was made of the 
sheerest handkerchief Hnen and one thread only had 
been pulled for the hemstitching. A quarter of 
an inch above the hem another thread was drawn. 




Fig. 180. The threads pulled to form squares 

but this time, instead of letting it extend to the hem, 
a thread was cut one quarter of an inch from the 
hem at the beginning and ending. Six threads 
were drawn like this at eighth of an inch spaces. 
The four sides were treated in like manner. 

Where the threads intersected at the corner, the 
squares were hemstitched all around, two stitches 
being allowed to each side of the square. The 



NEEDLECRAFT 191 

stitches were taken through to the centre of each 
square. Beyond where the lines intersected the 
six long lines were treated quite differently. A 
piece of fine braid not more than an eighth of an 
inch wide was taken on the space between the first 
tw^o rows of drawn threads. A regular cat-stitch was 
worked over this. First a stitch was taken on the 
drawn threads above the braid, then, one below it 
(Figure 181). When the braid was entirely covered 
with stitches on the first row, a second piece of tape 
or braid was placed over the space between the 
second and third rows of drawn threads. This 
time instead of catching the 
thread of both rows, the 

stitches are taken into Fig. ISl. Cat-stitch over the tape 

those of the previous row on one side of the tape 
and into the third row of drawn threads on the other 
side of the tape. Five rows of tape complete 
the band between the stitches. Of course all this 
work is on the wrong side of the handkerchief. On 

the right side, a 
*"' totally different ef- 

fect is produced. 
At first glance you 
would think that 



mffmifffrnmrnm^ 



■» n W n VTM » II II M U « k « H 1! J ]l ■ ■ II ■« im n 1 
IIIUI^ « im umi IIHIIKll mniiniiiiMii.inm 



II II mi nil 1 in » ]iii i-.-, 



Fig. 182. Five rows of tape cat-stitched there are five lOWS 



192 NEEDLECRAFT 

of tiny tucks with hemstitching on each side, 
until you look again closely //i,and see that it is 
padded hemstitching (Figure 182). 




Fig. 183. A handkerchief for an ambitious little girl 

A section of a drawn work handkerchief for some 
ambitious little girl to own is shown in the illustra- 
tion on this page (Figure 183). It is like a cobweb. 



NEEDLECRAFT 193 

A piece of handkerchief linen twelve inches square 
is selected. Starting from the outer edge of the 
four sides an eighth of an inch wide space is left, then 
the threads drawn for an eighth of an inch. Repeat 
this seventeen times. At the corners the space and 
drawn threads form squares. 

Now the rest of the space should be divided 
up in like manner, so starting from one corner of the 
solid square in the centre, draw the threads for an 
eighth of an inch, then leave a space the same length 
and then draw again. Continue in this manner 
on the four sides of the centre square. Pull out all 
the cut threads and you find that you have a deep 
border of little squares. Buttonhole around the 
four sides of the centre square with tiny stitches, thus 
keeping the linen from fraying. 

To get the pointed edge as shown in the hand- 
kerchief, buttonhole over the line of horizontal 
threads and four of the vertical. The little filling 
stitch I am going to suggest to you is so simple 
that really after you have buttonholed the handker- 
chief your task is almost completed. 

Start in the first point under the solid square and 
work diagonally across the open space. Pass your 
thread around the centre of the little square also 
on the diagonal. Continue across till you reach 



194 NEEDLECRAFT 

the buttonholed edge around the Hnen square in 
the centre. 

Skip the next point and work the same stitch 
in every other point. This stitch and in fact all 
the rest of the handkerchief should be carried out in 
No. 200 sewing cotton. 

In between the worked points make another 
stitch which is very similar to the one just described. 

It is started from the edge and a stitch is taken 
on the diagonal across four of the squares and half 
way across the solid squares at the corner of each 
group. 

Having reached the buttonholing next the linen 
you turn your work and repeat the stitch over the 
same square. The stitches now form the figure 8. 

The design of drawn work in the centre of the 
square is simple as well as being particularly 
pleasing. Draw the threads for a half-inch space, 
one quarter of an inch above the buttonholing. 
This must be done on the four sides of the square. 
The corners must be buttonholed before beginning 
the drawn work. Start the first thread for the drawn 
work in the centre of one of the buttonholed corners. 
Work the sheaf stitch all the way across. Now 
start a second thread, knotting the first sheaf in 
three, the next in two; so on to the end. These 



NEEDLECRAFT 105 

stitches are taken quite close to the linen. Both 
sides of the sheaf stitch are treated the same. 

The daisy in the corner completes the pattern. 
The daisy is made on the foundation of cross-stitches 
caused by the sheaf stitch. A Maltese cross is 
made thus forming twelve stitches catching all 
these together in the centre. Now weave a thread 
around in a circle, one eighth of an inch from the 
centre. To form the petals of the daisy start a 
thread from one of the threads that connect with 
the buttonholing and catch on the woven circle 
as you would if you were doing f agotting. 

Wherever threads are drawn so that they intersect 
at right angles, as in the case of this handkerchief, 
a space is left vacant which is very unsightly if not 
filled in with some figure. Here it was with the 
daisy which is extremely easy but in the majority 
of cases it is with the Maltese cross. 

The wide strip of drawn work shows a pretty 
pattern for linen scarfs. It is nothing but right that 
every girl should take an interest in her bedroom, 
She may not be fortunate enough to have one en- 
tirely by herself but that does not excuse her from 
trying to make it as attractive as possible. The 
key-note to beauty and elegance is simplicity. 
Better have a dainty bureau scarf hand made and 



196 NEEDLECRAFT 

a few necessary toilet articles than a bureau berib- 
boned and with a lace scarf, crowded with old visit- 
ing cards, dance orders, and dainty nothings that 
only catch the dust and give one a bewildered feeling 
when one looks at them. The scarf should be worth 
displaying if it is hand work, for remember what is 
worth doing is worth doing well. 

The butterfly pattern of drawn work (Figure 
184) is simple and pretty enough to please the 
most exacting and as has been said before is most 
appropriate for bureau scarfs. The material of 
the scarf may be linen, lawn, or scrim. It is quite 
unnecessary that the drawn work extend around 
the whole scarf — three sides, one long and the two 
short, being quite sufficient. 




Fig. 184. The butterfly pattern in drawn work 

Draw the threads out for an inch, then hemstitch 
the cloth on both sides of the space; be sure to 
take up the group of threads already hemstitched 
when working on the second side. Fasten the 



NEEDLECRAFT 197 

thread in the direct centre of one end of the drawn 
work and catch eight groups of threads to form the 
sheaf stitch. An eighth of an inch above the centre 
thread start another thread. Divide the sheaf 
in thirds and knot each section of the first sheaf. 
Pass the thread to the second sheaf and repeat the 
same thing, this time under the centre instead of 
above it. Alternate sheaves are divided above 
the centre line and the remaining sheaves 
under. 

A third thread is started beginning an eighth of 
an inch below the centre and the other side of the 
sheaf is divided in three. 

A fourth thread is started one eighth of an inch 
from the solid material. This time the sheaf is 
divided in four, in groups of two. First the top 
of one sheaf is woven like this, then the bottom of 
the next. Continue in this manner till the end 
of the strip is reached. 

The fifth thread knots the groups on the side of 
each sheaf that was omitted by the fourth thread. 

You will notice now that the four threads cross 
each other in the centre of the space between each 
sheaf. Knot the threads in the centre and weave 
across the lower four threads until you have made 
as large a fan as the space will allow. The remain- 



198 NEEDLECRAFT 

ing threads are divided in two, three on each side, 
and two other fans are woven on them. 

In the next space the fan of four is reversed and 
is made in the opposite direction to the first group. 
This pattern is commonly termed the butterfly 
pattern. 

Drawn work should be worked on frames, though it 
is not necessary to use the large square one of the 
Mexicans. The nicest kind of frame and one easy 
to handle is the oval form, which comes in different 
sizes. They are particularly convenient to hold 
a long, narrow piece, which can be worked to 
better advantage than on the round rings. 

Every once in awhile one sees specimens of a 
new kind of drawn work. There is the Mexican 
of which we have had a few of the simplest 
stitches, there is the Hardanger or Swedish drawn 
work, which is described in another chapter, the Porto 
Rico drawn work which is very intricate and also very 
trying to the eyes, but after all none compares in 
simplicity to the Bulgarian drawn work. It is so 
substantial that often after the material of the article 
on which the work is done has worn out, the drawn 
work is as good as new and can be transferred to 
another piece of material. 

Bulgarian drawn work instead of weakening the 



NEEDLECRAJT 199 

material as Mexican work usually does strengthens 
it considerably. 

The work is done in spaces varying from a half 
inch to three inches in width. It can be done on 
linen, huck or lawn backgrounds, though sometimes 
scrim is used. Personally I do not think it pays 
to work elaborate patterns on scrim as the back- 
ground is not substantial enough. 

We will take for example the first towel end shown 
in this work. 



% 




1 - ■ • i' ' . ■ ..f ; - ■ ■ ._■-'' . . ■ " , .,:■.,. .■,*^.'^ .-■'■'.:-'!:."'■" ■-•/" 


uDfGBwKflQ 




msm 


" 





Fig. 185. A towel in Bulgarian drawn work 

Draw threads out of an inch and a half space. 
It is not necessary that the cloth should be hem- 
stitched, though till you are quite familiar with the 
work it may be easier for counting. The hem is 
then turned over and hemstitched. Make the 
double hemstitch on the other side as described in 
the first part of this chapter. 

I have found that though there are many threads 
that may be used for weaving there is nothing quite 



200 NEEDLECRAFT 

as satisfactory as Electro in its finest number. 
Start from the extreme lower left hand corner. 
Weave back and forth over three of the groups with 
a blunt pointed crewel needle for one quarter of 
the distance from the hem. Now omitting the first 
group weave across three. You will see that you 
dropped the first group and took up the fourth. 
Weave to the middle of the space. Now drop the 
second group and weave across to the fifth group 
until you are three quarters across the space. Now 
drop the third group and weave across to the sixth. 
Weave until the space is filled. Without breaking 
your thread weave the seventh, eighth and ninth, 
then the eighth, ninth and tenth, next the ninth, 
tenth and eleventh, then the tenth, eleventh and 
twelfth. Weaving the eleventh, twelfth and thir- 
teenth brings you back again to the hem. 

The woven threads will look somewhat like an 
arch of blocks. Between the arch there are six 
groups of threads. Let us weave that in pyramid 
effect. Start at the hem and weave across the six 
for a little more than a quarter of an inch. Then 
dropping the first and last groups of threads of the 
proposed pyramid weave over four threads for 
another quarter of an inch. Again dropping the 
first and last threads of the four you were weaving. 



NEEDLECRAFT 201 

work across two. Fasten your thread by bringing it 
through the woven stitches into the hem. A new 
thread is started in like manner. You are now 
ready to start another arch, close to one just 
made. 

A little more elaborate design is shown in the 
second towel end, a detail of which is also given 
(Figures 186 and 187.) 

After the threads have been prepared as has 
been just described for the first towel start from the 
lower left hand side and weave across the threads 







Fig. 186. Deteil of Fig. 187 

eight times. The weaving is very simple. First 
you take two groups with needle pointing to the 
left and then you take the one group that you didn't 



202 NEEDLECRAFT 

take up the first time. You work back and forth 
as it were. 

Now drop the first thread and weave across to the 
fourth group as in the first towel. Each set of three 
groups will only have eight lines however. Continue in 
this manner till you are one space from the solid mate- 
rial, then weave across four instead of three. Start to 
weave down on the right side over the three groups 
under the block of four. Now continue weaving over 
groups of three until the hem is almost reached then 
weave the last block over four (See detail of Figure 187). 

On each side of these blocks weave a row working 
over two groups. 




Fig. 187. A more elaborate design in Bulgarian drawn work 

The groups of thread within the woven rows are 
woven into a triangle. 

Bulgarian drawn work is used on pillow cases, hand- 
kerchiefs, towels, dresses, scarfs, or small square cloths. 

Sometimes coloured threads are used and the 
result is very effective. Use cottons and if they 
are coloured boil them in salt and water before 
working with them. 



XVII 

EASY LACE STITCHES, FAGOTTING, SINGLE MESH, 

DOUBLE MESH, SPIDERS, FAN, MALTESE CROSS. 

TWISTED AND BUTTONHOLED BARS, 

PICOTS FOR SIMPLE EDGES 

ONE of our best authorities on lace has said 
that there are over one hundred different 
stitches used in lace. Now there are 
various kinds of laces; there are crochetted, bobbin, 
as well as needle point laces. It is about two 
branches of needlework laces — Renaissance and 
point — that we will talk about in this chapter. 

Renaissance lace is made by basting a flat braid 
on a given pattern and filling the spaces between 
with simple lace stitches. Point lace is made of 
very fine plain braid with much finer thread and 
more elaborate stitches. 

The basting of the braid is extremely important. 
Sometimes only a single line is given to indicate 
where the braid will be, while again a double line 
is shown. The braid must not be wider than the 
double lines. It may be basted so that the side 

203 



204 NEEDLECRAFT 

held toward you will be the right side of the lace 
or vice versa. Start from one corner of the design, 
turn over one end of the braid an eighth of an 
inch. For coarse work one row of basting stitches 
through the centre of the braid is sufficient but for 

fine work baste 
along both edges of 
the braid. 

In basting around 
a loop the inner 
edge of the braid 
will have to be gath- 
ered. This may be 
done in two ways: 
the first by puUing 
a thread or by run- 
ning a thread on the 
edge. At a sharp 
point the braid will 
have to be turned. 
The preferred 
method of working 
the lace is to have 
the right side facing you. In starting to braid 
turn up one eighth inch of braid and start from 
a point so that the end may be covered later. 




Fig. 187A. 



Fagottingl and feather-stitching 
on a cap 



NEEDLECRAFT «05 

The braids vary from one cent to fifteen cents per 
yard. 

A simple stitch in lace that greatly resembles the 




Fig. 188. Fagotting 

Turkish stitch in embroidery is fagotting. It is a 
stitch that is often used by dressmakers to connect 
^ bias bands together for yokes and sleeves. For this as 
well as other lace stitches 
the beginning of the 
thread should be fasten- 
ed so as to be unobserv- 
ed by the average eye. 
If the braid is neatly 
over-casted the end will 
be quite secure. Start- 
ing from the extreme 
left of the section to 
be fagotted take a 
stitch through the braid 

on the opposite side of Fig. 189. Single Brussels stitch 




200 NEEDLECRAFT 

the opening, letting the thread fall to the right. 
The stitches are taken from side to side. This 
stitch is best suited to long narrow spaces 
(Figure 188). 

The foundation stitch of lace is the single mesh or 
net stitch. It is a stitch that may be used in almost 
any shaped opening. It is a good thing when working 
a piece of lace to pick out one stitch for filling in the 

background; then 
the design proper 
can be as fancy 
as desired. 

The mesh or net 
stitch is good for 
a filling stitch. A 
blunt pointed 
needle is the best 
for working lace 
as you are not so 
apt to stick your- 
self. Make a row 
of open buttonholing, not however through the 
background. The second row is worked slightly 
below the first row. Each stitch is taken into a loop 
of the upper row. If the spaces decrease in size 
drop one stitch from each end for as many rows as 




Fig. 190. 



A handkerchief in simple lace 
stitches 



NEEDLECRAFT 207 

necessary. To finish the stitches overcast them 
to the braid. To many lace makers this stitch is 
known as single Brussels (Figure 189). 

Double Brussels or the knot is worked like the 
single only that there is a second stitch taken in the 
same position as the first. 
The last must be short 
and drawn tightly (Fig- 
ure 191). 

Another pretty filling- 
in stitch is the spider. 
It can be as large as de- 
sired allowing the space 
it is to be used in to deter- 
mine the size. A thread 
is spanned across the 
space and the braid 
whipped for a short distance, say a quarter of 
an inch. The space is spanned again so that the 
threads cross. Pick up all the threads on the 
needle through the centre and make a little stitch 
to bind them. Now begin to weave over one leg 
or strand and under another, so on till a good 
sized body is formed to the spider. In weaving 
be careful not to skip one of these little legs 
(Figure 192). 




Fig. 191. Double Brussels stitch 




Fig. 102. The simple spider 



208 NEEDLECRAFT 

Another way to work a spider, to make it a little 

stronger is to whip each leg as it is spanned. 

A third and more 
elaborate spider is one 
made with the founda- 
tion thread as de- 
scribed for the first 
spider and then in- 
stead of weaving 
straight around make 
a stitch back over one 

leg and forward under two until the body is the 

desired size. This is called the spider in its web 

(Figure 193). 
It is easier to weave on an uneven number of 

threads, and the number of 

these should depend on the 

space. A large space requires 

a large spider with lots of legs. 
A fan (Figure 194) is made by 

spanning three or five threads so 

that they come to a common 

centre on one side and on the 

other they are arranged in ray Fi«- 1^- The woven .pider 

effect. The weaving is started from the base under 
one thread and over the other on the first row if 





NEEDLECRAFT 209 

there are only three. The second row is like the 
first, only the threads skipped in the first row are 
taken up. Alternate 
rows agree. 

A Maltese cross looks 
like four fans caught to- 
gether. The threads are 
crossed lengthwise and 
crosswise and the stitches 
taken to gather the ^^- ^''- '^^^ '"" 

threads in the centre. The weaving is the same as 
the fans. In weaving the fans or crosses do not 
work much more than half way up (Figure 195). 

A twisted bar is 
nothing more than a 
thread overcasted 
(see illustration, Fig- 
ure 124). 

A buttonholed bar 
is made by laying two 
or three threads and 
buttonholin[g over 
them (Figure 196). 
In this age of ma- 




Fig. 195. A Maltese cross 



chine work there are all sorts of braids that may 
be procured for lace work. Little edges that 



210 NEEDLECRAFT 

were impossible to buy are now made by ma- 
chinery. 

A little edging makes a dainty finish to a straight 
braid and also enhances the beauty of the fancy 
braids. 

To make a simple edging, work a row of picots on 
the edge of the braid which forms the edge of the 
design. 

Dainty yokes, collars, baby caps, and tie ends 
can be made of a few yards of braid and two or three 
different kinds of stitches. 

Another decoration I would like to tell you a 
little about is Limerick darning. It is often used 
with fine lace work on a background of fine net. 

The lace thread is used for the darning. The most 
common of the stitches is the plain darning taken 
up over one hole and under the next of the net. 

The next row is 
worked close to 
the first. 

Darning on net 
is a decoration 

Fig. 196. A buttonholed bar ^j^^^ Jg ^f^^^ ^Scd 

by itself. Smart little turn-over collars and cuffs 
are most attractive darned in heavy white floss or 
colour if preferred. Pin cushion covers and other 




NEEDLECRAFT 211 

dainty articles that every girl loves to have in her 
bedroom may be darned to good effect. 

One of the most simple forms of lace work is 
Connemara lace. It gets its name from the Irish 
county of that name. 

The materials required are Brussels net of any size 
desired, lace braid of a width to correspond with the 
net, heavy lace rings, a ball of Renaissance thread 
No. 60 or linen spool thread No. 25, as well as a 
spool of coloured cotton. 

Connemara lace is used extensively for curtains, 
bed spreads and in fact, on any large piece, when 
the effect is desired and yet not much work. A good 
design for Conne- 
mara lace is shown 
in Figure 197. 

The net can be 
white, ecru, or black. 

Draw a simple yet 
bold design on a 
piece of stiff paper 
or better still a piece 
of pink or blue paper 

muslin ^^^' ^^^' ■^ good design for Connemara lace 

The rings can be bought all ready for applying, 
for a couple of cents per dozen but they can also 





212 NEEDLECRAFT 

be made at home. Take a pencil and wind around 
one end of a thread about as many times as you 
would judge from the illustration of the 
button or ring half worked (Figure 
198). Slip the threads from the pencil 
and carefully and closely go over them 
Button half with buttouholc stitchcs till all the loose 
threads are completely covered. 
Baste your net over the design, then baste the 
braid along the design. With a fine thread secure 
the.braid on the extreme edge to the net only w^ith 
fine running stitches. Sew one side of the braid en- 
tirely around the design then sew the other side 
down. 

The rings are buttonholed to the net. 
If a very elaborate piece is wanted, lace stitches 
may be inserted in spaces that are bound on all 
sides with braid. The stitches, however, should be 
of the simplest, such as the twisted bar or spider. 

Honiton braid which is an egg-shaped braid is 
much more beautiful than the plain Renaissance 
braid employed in Connemara. 

The dearest :of baby caps, handkerchief tie ends, 
and other dainty little articles on which a fine dec- 
oration is desired can be made from fine net and 
Honiton braid. Each section of braid can be cut 



NEEDLECRAFT 213 

and made to form petals for a flower or to represent 
a leaf, Honiton is of course more expensive than 
Renaissance braid but a yard of Honiton goes a good 
way. 

There is a thread that can be bought by the yard, 
called picot or purling thread. It has a loop at 
short intervals each side of it. The needle can be 
threaded with it and can be used for stems, tendrils, 
or other parts of a design where a fine single line 
is desired. 

The centre of a flower in Honiton applique may 
be worked in various ways. A small ring or button 
may be used or spiders may be woven in the centre. 
Again the single Brussels or mesh stitch is worked 
in a little circle in the centre. Use a very small 
ring, if you decide on rings for centre, as a large ring 
spoils the efiFect of a flower. Any child can make 
designs for Honiton appliqu^. 

The background for Honiton is the fine Brussels 
net. Sometimes a double thickness of net is basted 
over the pattern and the Honiton sewed on or ap- 
pliqued to the net. The double thickness of net 
gives a moire effect. Each section of the braid is 
sewed to the net only. Sometimes two widths of 
braid are used, one size for the flowers and another 
for the leaves. 



214 NEEDLECRAFT 

The braids at most art shops can be had in black, 
cream, or white. If, however, you are not fortunate 
enough to get cream, the white can be dyed at home 
to be as light or deep as you desire. I use cold 
tea diluted in water for a light cream, and coffee 
for the deeper cream. Put the lace to soak in the 
tea or coffee for a couple of hours. Rinse in cold 
water and let dry. If it is not a deep enough shade 
put more tea or coffee in the water and soak the 
lace again. Another way to dye lace, chiffon or 
any delicate fabric is to get a tube of oil paint the 
colour you desire and dilute it in gasolene. Of 
course the gasolene makes the paint light, so test 
the solution by dipping a small piece of cloth in and 
see if it is the right shade. A quart of gasolene is 
sufficient unless the article is very large. 

I know a girl who dipped her white hat all trimmed 
with flowers and tulle that was quite soiled into a 
mixture of gray paint and gasolene and the result 
was a pretty dove gray that everybody thought 
was new. 

Teneriffe or Brazilian point lace is such a simple 
form of lace making that I am going to stop 
and tell you a few words about it before we proceed 
to the next chapter. 

Little forms which look like a large spool with 



NEEDLECRAFT 215 

pins stuck in them can be bought in many art shops, 
but you can easily make a foundation yourself for 
Teneriffe lace. 

Draw a circle two inches in diameter on a stiflF 
piece of cardboard. Sometimes the circle is drawn 
on white muslin and fastened securely to an em- 
broidery hoop or frame. Divide the circle into 
halves, then quarters, then eighths and each eighth 
divide into six equal parts. Make a dot at each 
division. Thread a needle with a piece of coarse 
thread. Insert the needle one quarter inch beyond 
the circle and bring it up on a dot. Continue in 
this manner all around the circle. Fasten securely. 

Now thread a needle 
with a long thread of 
No. 80 linen thread. 
Let it be extra length. 
Pass the needle under 
each loop from side to 
side until each little 
stitch has a thread pas- 
sing through it. (Fig- 
ure 199). Knot the 
threads in the centre 
and weave four or five rows, over and under the 
strands close to the centre. Skip a quarter inch 




Fig. 199. The first step in Brazilian 
point lace 



216 NEEDLECRAFT 

then carry a thread around and knot each thread 
as you pass it. Count the threads and divide the 
number by six; on this number weave a httle pyra- 
mid. Repeat the Httle pyramid five times, each 
time letting it be woven on the same number of 
threads as the first. Take a thread and catch 




Fig. 200. A motif in Brazilian lace 

every two threads above the centre figure. An 
eighth of an inch above this work another row, this 
time dividing the two threads previously caught and 
taking one of them and one of the next row together. 
An eighth of an inch above the row make another 
row, catching the same threads as were taken in the 
first row from the central figure (Figure 200). 



NEEDLECRAFT 217 

Sometimes a pin cushion is used to make Brazilian 
lace. The pins are stuck in and the threads wound 
over them. 

BraziHan or Teneriffe lace can be used for borders 
on handkerchiefs or other fine articles, while again 
they may be used as medallions on waists or other 
thin clothes. The material from under them is 
cut out so that a lacy effect may be produced. 

Other patterns may be readily made. Remember 
that the stitches are very similar to those used in 
the corners of drawn work borders. 



XVIII 

SIMPLE CROCHETING, STITCHERY FOR EDGES AND 

SHAWLS 

CROCHETING ABBREVIATIONS. 

1. Slip stitch (si St) 

2. Chain stitch (ch) (Figure No. 227) 

3. Single crochet (s c) " No. 228) 

4. Double crochet (d c) " No. 229) 

5. Treble crochet (tr c) " No. 230) 

6. Shell (sh) " No. 231) 

7. Stitches (sts) 

THE beginner in crochet will have very little 
trouble in learning the work as the stitches 
used are comparatively few in number 
although the various combinations in which they may 
be used are almost unlimited. It is wise to become 
accustomed to the stitches and especially with the 
abbreviations, which are used so extensively through- 
out all crochet work. No doubt the beauty and 
variety of the patterns one can execute, also the 
durability of the work are the chief causes for its 
popularity at the present time. 

The implement used is a crochet hook which 
varies in size according with the quality of the 

218 



NEEDLECRAFT 219 

thread used. The steel hook with the bone handle 
is to be preferred. 

Too much emphasis cannot be placed upon the im- 
portance of the position of the hands when working, 
and the firmness of the stitches, as the w^ork is, 
at once, better and more even when the proper 
position is maintained. The crochet needle should 
be held lightly between the first finger and the thumb 
of the right hand; the hook horizontal and parallel 
with the first finger of the right hand, that part of 




Fig. 227. Chain stitch 

the work which is in course of construction being 
held closely between the thumb and third finger of 
the left hand. The thread is wound once around the 
first finger, passes under the second and third fingers 
of the left hand, and is wound around the small 
finger. It is now held in position by bending the 
fourth and small fingers toward the palm of the 
hand. 



220 NEEDLECRAFT 

The foundation stitch of all crocheting is the chain 
stitch (ch) (see Figure 227) which is begun by making 
a slip knot around the needle. Draw the thread 
through this loop, and you have a chain. Again 
draw the thread through this second loop, continue 
until the chain is of desired length. 

Another stitch is the slip stitch (si st). Insert 
the hook in the foundation work. Draw loop 
through the work and another through the loop on 
the needle. 

Single crochet (s c). See Figure 228. 

Insert hook in work, make a loop on the hook and 
draw through, making two loops on the needle. 




Fig. 298. Single crochet 

Throw thread again over hook. Draw thread 
through both loops. 

Double crochet (d c). See Figure 229. 

Before inserting the hook in the stitch to be 



NEEDLECRAFT 221 

worked, put the thread around it. Throw thread 
around hook and draw the thread through the 
stitch and you will have three loops on hook. Throw 




Fig. 229. Double crochet 

thread again around hook and draw thread through 
two loops. Throw thread again around hook and 
draw through the remaining two loops. 

Treble crochet (tr c). See Figure 230. 

Put the thread around the hook twice, insert 




Fig. 230. Treble crochet 

in the work. Draw a loop through work, making 
four loops upon needle. Draw the thread or loop 
through two loops on needle, then again through 



222 NEEDLECRAFT 

two loops and the third time through the remaining 
two loops. 

Shells (sh). See Figure 231. 

Shells are formed by making groups of either 




Fig. 231. SheUs 

single, double or treble stitches worked into the 
same space or stitch. 

Edging and insertions are very much in use and 
are often applied to blouses, collars and cuffs, towels, 




Fig. 232. Tiny insertion 

centre pieces, handkerchiefs, belts and various other 

articles. 

Tiny Insertion (Figure 232). 

Ch 7 catch into a ring and into one side of ring 
work 5 s c *ch. 7 catch in next to last s c, 5 s c in 



NEEDLECRAFT 223 

new ring. Repeat from * for length desired and 

fasten off. 

Tiny Edging (Figure 233). 

1st row - Ch. 9 turn. 

2nd row — 1 s c in each 9 ch, turn. 

3rd row — ch 9 work 1 d c in first s c made, turn. 

4th row — * Over ch work 9 s c Work ch of 9 
turn. 

5 th row — 1 d c over the d c of preceding row. 
Turn. 

Repeat from* until you have length desired. 




Fig. 233. Tiny edging 



For the edging made : 

1st row — Over each d c on one side and each 
empty ch on the other work 4 s c. 

2nd row — Work 1 d c into first s c then * 2 ch, 
miss 2 s c and work 1 d c into next. Repeat 
from * along both sides of insertion. 
Loop Edging (Figure 234). 

' Work 29 s c over a padding cord, then catch 
in 7th stitch made to form a ring. Again work 29 
s c and catch in the 7th stitch to form another 



NEEDLECRAFT 

ring. Continue until the edging is the required 
length. ^ 
For the edge, begin at the first end for the picots 




and work^ as follows: make 1 s c into 8th stitch 
of first ring, eh 5, skip 1 so — 1 so in next stitch. 
Repeat for three picots. Ch 2, begin in 8th stitch 
of next ring and make 3 picots there and so continue 
to the end of edging. 
Loop Insertion (Figure 235). 

Ch 10 and catch in a ring into one side of ring 
work 6 s c, ch 10, catch in the last s c forming a ring, 
and into new ring work 6 s c. Continue in this 




Fig. 2S5. Loop Insertion 



way for length desired. Then work down the 
other side of rings 6 d c in each. 
Now work down each side of insertion 1 s c in 



NEEDLECRAFT 225 

the centre point of each side of the ring and 5 ch 
between. In these ch loops work 6 s c each and 
fasten off. 
Narrow Crochet Edging (Figure 236). 

Ch 14. 

1st row — 1 d c in 10th ch from needle, ch 3, 1 d 
c in same st. Ch 3, 1 d c in next st, ch 3, 1 d c 
in same st. 3 stitches on foundation will stand be- 
yond the row. 

2nd row — Ch 6 turn *1 d c in centre loop of 




Fig. 286. Narrow crochet edging 

cluster of three, ch 3 repeat from * 2 times. 1 d c 
in same space, ch 2-1 d c in third ch of turning loop. 

3d row — Turn ch 5 * 1 d c in centre of loop of 
clusters, ch 3 repeat twice from * 1 d c in same 
space * ch 1-1 d c in 6 ch loop, repeat from * 7 
times ch 1-1 s c in end of foundation. 

4th row — Turn ch 6-1 si st in fourth ch from 
needle ch 1-1 d c in next space between d c, ch 
5-1 si st in fourth ch from needle, ch 1-1 d c in 
next space. Repeat from * 5 times. Ch 3-1 d c 



226 NEEDLECRAFT 

in centre loop of 7 ch clusters, repeat from three 
times more ch 2, 1 d c in third ch on turning loop. 

5th row — Turn ch 5, make clusters in centre loop 
as with other row. Repeat from 2nd row. On 
each repetition of 3 row the final s c is taken up in 
the loop of 3 ch of the former scallop. 
Cone Insertion (Figure 237). 

1st row — Ch 15 turn 1 d c in ninth ch from needle, 
ch 3 skip 2-1 d c in next, ch 3 skip 2-1 d c in last 
stitch. 

2nd row — 4 s c in first space, ch 1 in second space 
work 2 d c — 1 tr c, ch 3, 1 tr c, 2 d c, ch 1, in 
third space work 4 s c. 

3d row — Ch 10, one si st over 3 ch — ch 5, 1 tr c 
in last s c of preceding row. 




Fig. 237. Cone insertion 

4th row — 4 s c in first space, 1 s c in same space 
with si st, 4 s c in next space. 

5th row — Ch 6, skip 2 s c of preceding row, 1 d c 
in next stitch. Ch 3, skip 2-1 d c in next stitch. 3 
ch, skip 2-1 d c in final st. Repeat from beginning of 
second row. 



NEEDLECRAFT 227 

Crochet Insertion with Ribbon (Figure 238). 

Make a ch of 35 stitches: 1 d c in 7 st from end 
of ch, 3 ch, 1 d c in next 3 rd st of ch, 3 ch, 1 d c 
in next 3d stitch of ch, 3 ch, 3 d c in 5th of ch, 3 ch, 
3 d c in same st as last 3 d c to join shell, 4 ch, 3 



Fig. 238. Insertion with ribbon 

d c in next 5th st of ch, 3 ch, 3 d c in same stitch 
as last three, 3 ch, 1 d c in next 5th of ch, 3 ch, 1 d c in 
next 3d of ch, 3 ch, 1 d c in last stitch of ch, 8 ch; 
turn. Work the next and every succeeding row the 



228 NEEDLECRAFT 

same.'J Run narrow ribbon under and over 3 ch. in 
centre. This trimming is very pretty when used on 
a blouse .waist. 




Fig. £39. Rainbow thawl 

Rainbow Shawl (Figure 239). 
...Either Saxony or floss may be used, about six 



NEEDLECRAFT 229 

skeins of white and half a skein of each of the colours 

used being necessary. 

To form main part of Shawl. 

Ch 68 sts of white. 

1st row — Turn and work back thus: Draw out 
st on hook about three-fourths of an inch, pass hook 
under the single thread of wool, draw through st, 
pass it under wool, work a si st, 1 ch (in the way 
you work first st of every row). To make second st* 
pass hook through second, draw up to three fourths 
of an inch, catch the wool and make 2 close ch : re- 
peat from * to end of chain. Turn and repeat from first 
row till you have worked 76 rows in the white wool. 
To make the Rainbow Stripe on either end of white. 

Fasten in the pink wool and work two rows, then 
in the order named — yellow, orange, light green, 
dark green, indigo, light blue, violet. Finish the 
end with two or more 
rows of white. 
To make Fringe. 

*Chain 35, fasten 
down in next st with 
a si st, repeat from 
* to end of row. 

Finish both edges of Fig. mo. Cross sUtch 

scarf with a row of knot stitches. 




230 NEEDLECRAFT* 

Crochet Scarf (Figure 241). 

Material, 8 skeins Shetland Floss. 

Directions for Cross Stitch (see Figure 240). 

Make a chain the desired length: work 1 tr c in 
the fourth stitch of ch. Now stitch back into the 
first and second of ch and make a tr c in each. 
(This forms a cross stitch.) Repeat to end of chain. 




Pig. 241. Shawl in cross stitch 



NEEDLECRAFT 231 

To make Scarf. 

Ch 139 stitches. 

Work 34 cross stitch on ch; continue working 
back and forth with cross stitch until scarf measures 
IK yards in length. Finish ends with a fringe. 
Each strand is 6 inches and 8 strands of wool are 
knotted to each cross stitch to form fringe. 



XIX 

PATTERN DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING DOLL CAPS AND 

CAPES, JACKETS AND CHILD'S BEDROOM 

SLIPPERS 

HAVING become well acquainted with the 
stitches and patterns described in the pre- 
vious chapter, you are competent to go on 
with the more intricate ones described in this chapter. 

A pretty doll's cap is made of silk. Without 
a silk padded lining the cap will be just the thing 
for the warmer months. 
DoWs Cap. 

Begin by winding silk around a lead pencil 12 
times : make 24 s c over this. 

2nd row — Make 2 s c in every s c on first row. 

3rd row — S c in every s c on 2nd row. 

Continue widening often enough to keep the work 
nearly flat (to do this two s c instead of one are 
worked upon the one of the preceding row). This 
completes the solid work of the crown. 

4th row — Ch 3, make 3 d c in same stitch, skip 
4 d c in next st. Continue around entire crown. 

232 



NEEDLECRAFT 233 

5th row — Make a shell of ^6 d c in centre of 
each shell of 4 d c, leaving off within 7 shells of 
last row. 

6th rov/ — Make a ch of 5 st and s c in middle 
of next shell. Ch 5, s c in middle of next shell. 
Continue around entire crown. 

7th row — * 5 s c on each ch of 5 of previous 
row. Turn s c for entire row around to where 
the shells of 4 were left. This begins the front of 
cap. Turn and repeat from * % more rows. Next 
make a row of shells of 4 st in every 5th st. 

8th row — Make shell of 5 d c in middle of 
each shell of 4 d c. Repeat these 2 groups of 4 
rows of s c and 2 rows of shells twice more. 

9th row — A row of 5 ch in middle of each shell, 
then a row of s c. Finish the cap with a row of 
shells of 7 d c around the entire cap. Finish shells 
with a row of picots made by a ch of 3 caught in 
every st with a s c. This completes the cap. 
DolVs Hug-Me-Tight (Figure 242). 

1 skein of Saxony white. 

1 skein of Shetland floss, blue. 

13^ yards of narrow white ribbon. 

Make a ch of 20 st., take up each ch with a s c. 

Turn 19 s c in slipper stitch (slipper stitch is s c 
taken up on the back thread of the row below). 



234 NEEDLECRAFT 

Crochet back and forth in this manner until you 
have 8 ribs or 16 rows which form the back. Then 
take up 5 s c and crochet back and forth until you 
have 9 ribs or 18 rows, which forms the one front. 




Fig. 242. Doll's Hug-me-tight 

Then count nine stitches for the neck, taking up 
the remaining 5 sts for the other front and make 9 
ribs or 18 rows for the other front. Finish with a 
border all around of s e taking up the whole stitch. 



NEEDLECRAFT 235 

alternating the colours, 1 row blue and 1 white until 
you have four blue and four white, finish the whole 
with a blue picot. 

Cut the ribbon into six pieces, sew one piece in 
each of the outer edges to form the armhole and 
front as illustrated. This jacket can be made for a 
child by commencing with 45 cli, 25 ribs for back 
and 25 ribs for fronts. 
Jacket ( Figure 243). 




Fig. 243. Jacket in star stitch 

Pompadour wool through which a thread of silk 
runs, was used for making this pretty jacket. 
Three skeins of the wool are required. 

The body of the sacque is of star stitch (Figure 
^44). 



236 NEEDLECRAFT 

Ch 95 on which work 11 stars widen with 2 ch. 

For sleeve make 11 stars, and back, 25 stars. 

One f ront 1 1 stars. For the first 4 rows of front work 
11 stars, widen with 2 ch work across sleeve, widen 
2, work across back, widen 1 star every other row; at 
sleeve widen 2, across sleeve widen 2, then 11 stars 
from the front. After the 4th row continue as 
before, only widening 1 star at the four sleeve points 






Fig. 244. Star stitch 

for 10 rows. In 15th row work 11 stars for the 
sleeve, now drop out the entire sleeve, including the 
widening points, work across back alone, leave out 
sleeve as before then 11 stars for the second front; 
work 12 rows across sacque widening under arms 
as in centre back. Tie wool at point under arm and 
work 13 rows around sleeve joining each row as 
made. For border, work 4 rows of knot stitch. 
Slippers in single crochet (Figure 245). 

One skein of each of two contrasting colours of 
Germantown wool, one pair of soles. For making 
these slippers in mercerized Perle cotton, which is 



NEEDLECRAFT 

very cool for warmer 
days, two balls will be 
required. 

In making slippers 
it is very essential for 
the work to be as tight 
as possible to prevent 
it from stretching. 

The following direc- 
tions are for slipper 
size 3. Ch 11 sts. 
Make 11 s c in slipper 
stitch, described in 
doll's hug-me-tight 
(Figure 246) widen 
in the centre by mak- 
ing 3 s c in 1 ch. 
Make two rows like 
last widening in cen- 
tre, then a row 
without widening. 
When the work reach- 
es from the toe to 
the hollow part of the 
sole (about 12 ribs) the 
front is long enough. 



237 




Fig. 245. Slipper in single crochet 



238 NEEDLECRAFT 

(Alternate two rows one colour and two in "the 
other.) Turn and work 15 s c. Continue in the 
slipper stitch until the work will reach around the 
sole by stretching. Join the end to the front by 
overcasting on the wrong side. Beginning at the 
corner where the end is joined make a row of crazy 




Fig. 246. Slipper stitch 

stitch around to the other side. Make 3 more 
rows of crazy stitch. Finish with a row of shells. 

Directions for crazy stitch — Make a ch of 4 sts; 
then throw the thread once over the needle, take 
up the third nearest stitch to the needle, and pull 
it through the loop; throw the thread over again 
and pull it through the nearest two loops on needle 
and crochet the remaining two loops off in the same 
manner. This completes the d c described in 
chapter 27. Make two more d c in the same loop, 
skip 3 stitches, fasten with a si st in next st 3 ch. 
4 shells in next st. and continue for length desired. 
Slippers in Star Stitch (Figure 247). 

4 balls of mercerized crochet cotton. 



NEEDLECRAFT 239 

Star stitch is made by a ch of the required length. 
Insert hook in 2nd ch from it, draw wool through, 
keeping both sts on hook, insert hook in 3rd ch and 
draw wool through keeping this st also on the hook, 
skip the next ch and take up the 4th and 5th in same 
manner, making 5 sts on hook; now drop the strands 
of wool from which these sts were made, and take up 
wool of contrasting colour, double end into a loop 
with short end about one inch in length, draw this 
through all the sts on hook, being careful not to let 
this short end slip through, ch 1 to hold sts in place. 
Now with this new strand work a star by drawing it 
through the eye of star, it being the tightest stitch 
near the ch on hook keeping both sts on hook as 
before. 

Draw wool also through long st down the side of 
star, then through next 2 ch which gives 5 sts on 
hook, then dropping the strand from which this star 
was made pick up the wool of 1st star and loop it 
through these 5 sts and ch 1 to hold the star in place. 
This ch should be worked tight so it will draw the 
sts together and form the star, which should be 
almost square. In the second row place the con- 
trasting colour over the star underneath, tying in 
the wool, ch 3 on which take up 2 sts; this gives 
you 3 sts on hook, the next 2 loops are drawn through 



240 




NEEDLECRAFT 

the long 



Fig. 247. A slipper in star stitch 



and short 
stitches of star under- 
neath, taking up back 
stitch of the long and 
both strands of the 
short or eye of star. 
For the slipper proper. 

Ch 9, on which make 
3 stars, 2 ch at end then 
work 3 stars down the 
other side of ch, taking 
up the other thread. 

2nd row — 4 stars, 2 
ch, 4 stars. 

3d row — without 
widening. 

Widen 2 stars every 
other row until you 
have 10 rows 2 rows 
without widening, then 
widen in the next. 

There will be 13 rows 
in all, and 20 stars in 
this last row, now di- 
vide front and work 
20 stars on either half 



NEEDLECRAFT 241 

for the sides; fit around sole by stretching and 
sew up the back on the wrong side. The wool or 
thread should be broken at the end of each row. 
(Crochet should not be worked backward and for- 
ward unless directions are given to that effect.) 

For a frill around the slippers work groups of 
6 ch st two more rows of the same. I always sew 
my slippers onto the soles after being finished, by 
overcasting with wool of the same shade on the 
right side, which saves stretching the slippers all 
out of shape when turning them. 
Jacket in Shell Stitch (Figure 248). 

Material: 5 skeins of white German town and 1 
skein of colour for edge. No. 7 bone needle. 

Ch 127, with 3 extra sts for turning. 

1st row — Skip 2 ch and make 4 d c in the next. 
* Skip 3 ch, 1 s c in next, ch 3, 4 d c in same st with 
s c and repeat from * ending with a final s c. 

2nd row — Turn 1 s cin s c below * 2 d c in same 
st, 1 s c in next s c below and repeat from * ending 
with a s c in top of turning ch. 

3rd row — Turn ch 3, 4 d c in s c below * 1 s c 
in next s c, ch 3, 4 d c in same st repeat from * to 
end of row. 

Repeat 2nd and 3rd rows 9 times, then repeat 
the 2nd row once more. This gives a depth of work 



242 NEEDLECRAFT 

sufficient for the back part of sleeves. At the end 
of the last row fasten off. 

The lower part of the back is now to be made. 
Count 8 shells (sh) along from the end of the last row 




Fig. 248. Half of a jacket in shell stitch 

and begin to crochet there, working as with 3rd row 
until within 8 sh of each other end of last long row. 
Crochet in pattern upon this row until 11 rows in 
all have been worked. Upon the 12th row increase 
1 sh in the 2 s c from each end by making 2 sh in 
those st instead of one. 



NEEDLECRAFT 243 

Work without increasing for 13 rows more, then 
fasten off. 

Go back to the foundation and upon the other 
side of it, beginning where the first row ended, crochet 
13 sh as in 1st row. This is the commencement 
of the left shoulder and front. 

Upon this row work 3 rows more in the usual way. 
At the end of the last row drop the loop temporarily 
from the needle, tie in an extra ball of wool at the 
top of the very beginning of the last row, ch 12 and 
fasten off. With this ch the extra width for the 
centre of the front is secured. 

5th row — Again take the dropped loop upon the 
needle and crochet as usual making 3 sh upon the 
extra ch. The row is now 16 sh wide. Work in 
pattern for 17 rows more, the last row ending at the 
wrist. Fasten off. 

On the 1st short row of lower front count 8 sh 
along from end of last row, begin there, work as 
usual to the other end, then crochet back and forth 
until the front is as long as the back, increasing 1 sh 
on the 13th row in the 2 s c from the underarm 
seam. The second front is made exactly like the 
first. The 3rd pattern row now is worked up the 
fronts around the neck, across the lower edge of 
jacket and sleeves, then finished with a scalloped 



244 NEEDLECRAFT 

edge worked as follows: Make 1 s c in space 
preceding st where s c was made on row below, 
ch 5, 1 s c on top of 1st d c below, ch 4, 1 s c in same 
space, ch 5 and repeat from beginning around all 
the edges, fasten off. 

Shape the jacket by crocheting the sleeves and 
underarm seams together. 

Crochet should be carefully washed and should 
not be put in the general laundry. Make suds of 
warm water and a little borax. Put the article, if of 
cotton or linen thread in and let it soak for a little 
while, then squeeze the water out of the article 
between the hands. Rinse in several waters in this 
manner always using warm water. 

Put the piece in a white bag and hang on the line. 

This way keeps the piece from stretching out of 
shape. Keep it on the line till the article is per- 
fectly dry. 

Knitted articles should also be treated in like 
manner when washing for if a knitted piece was 
pinned on a line to dry the article would be 
stretched out of shape. 



XX 

IRISH CROCHET LACE 

IRISH CROCHET lace is one of the most durable 
of laces and is suitable to be worn for all 
occasions. It especially recommends itself 
for pick-up or porch work. It looks well and 
does not take an endless while to make, as almost 
every motif is made separarely thus giving a variety. 
And although one may not have more than a few 
minutes to devote each day to the work, it is sur- 
prising how many articles can be completed with 
little effort and little time. 

The materials necessary are a steel crochet hook, 
considerably finer than for ordinary crochet work, 
as the work must be very firm, even and close. 
Irish Crochet Thread, numbers 36 to 50 or D. M. C. 
cotton numbers 70 to 100 inclusive and number 
10 for the padding cotton will be needed. All 
laces look better if pressed before making up, this 
is especially true of Irish Crochet. And when slightly 
soiled it can be washed in soap suds, made from any 
good laundry soap; rinse thoroughly in several 



246 NEiEDLECRAFT 

waters, starch slightly and iron on the wrong side 
on a heavy blanket. These simple directions help 
to make the lace look like new. In Irish Crochet 
the motifs are made separately mostly worked over 
a padding cotton. 

Then these motifs are basted on a pattern of 




Fig. 249. Doily with crochet edge 

cambric, or paper muslin which has been cut to the 
desired shape. A row of chainstitching is worked 
and basted to the edge of the pattern, then the filling 
in background is worked, joining the different motifs 
together with rows of chainstitching and picots or 
any other background stitch desired. 



NEEDLECRAFT 247 

Doily with Irish Crochet Edge (Figure 249). 

This can also be used for a bread plate. 

1st row — around a 24 inch circle of linen work 
a row of single crochet. 

2nd row — 5 chain, miss 3 single crochet and 
fasten with a single crochet in the 4th stitch; continue 
around mat. 



'.«.-^» 2^ 



fM-r-9^^PS^S^ WM^'lB&TJ^y^m ■^mWM-Wmmi^i 




Fig. 250. The design for the belt 

3rd row — Into each group of chains work 3 
single crochet, 1 picot, 3 single crochet. 

4th row — 6 ch fasten in the picot loop. 

5th row — 3 single crochet, picot, 3 single crochet 
1 picot, 3 single crochet, 1 picot; continue all around. 
This completes the mat. 
Belt of Irish Crochet (Figure 250). 

This belt is very useful, especially as it is mounted 



248 NEEDLECRAFT 

upon a foundation, which is the ordinary cotton 
waist belting, one inch wide sold at all notion counters 
for a few cents. The crochet belt is basted upon 
this belting after being stretched and starched. 

To make the belt: 

1st row — Chain 26, turn. 

2nd row — 1 double crochet in 6th stitch of 
chain, chain 2, miss 2 stitches and work 1 double 
crochet in 9th stitch of chain, chain 2, miss 2, chain 
and work 1 double crochet in 12th stitch of chain, 
chain 5, skip 5, chain, 1 double crochet into 17th 
stitch of chain, chain 2, 1 double in 20th stitch of 
chain, chain 2, miss 2 chain, 1 double crochet into 
23rd stitch of chain, chain 2, miss 2 and work 1 
double crochet in 26th stitch. 

3rd row — Chain 5, 1 double crochet in top of double 
crochet of preceding row, chain 2, 1 double crochet 
in top of double crochet, chain 2, 1 double crochet in 
top of double crochet, chain 2, 1 double crochet in top 
of double crochet, 5 double crochet over chain of 5, 1 
double crochet in top of double crochet, 2 chain, 
1 double crochet in top of double crochet, 2 chain, 1 
double crochet in top of double crochet, chain 2^ 
1 double crochet in 2nd stitch of chain of 5 at the 
end; turn and repeat from 2nd row for length re- 
quired. For the edge, work on both sides of the 



NEEDLECRAFT 249 

belt into every chain loop 3 single crochet, 1 picot 

3 single crochet. 

Rose Tie with lawn facing (Figure 251). 

This bow has an under facing of lawn with a 
simple crochet edging of double crochet and chain 
stitch with picots, worked at even intervals. For 
the crochet tie: 




'Fig. 251. Rose tie with lawn facing 

1st row — Work rose the same way as the one 
in the wheel tie. Now crochet around the rose 
in this manner * chain 3, 1 single crochet caught in 
the 1st double crochet of the rose petal, 5 chain, 
1 double crochet in 5th stitch of petal, chain 5, 1 
double in 8th stitch of petal, 5 chain; repeat from * 
five times more. 

2nd row — 5 chain, 1 single crochet in each pre- 
vious group of 5 chain, continue around entire rose. 



250 NEEDLECRAFT 

3rd row — 6 chain 1 single crochet in each pre- 
ceding loop of chain. 

4th row — * 6 chain, 9 double crochet in first 
space, 6 chain, 1 single crochet for next 4 spaces, 
6 chain, then 9 double crochet in 5th space; repeat 
from * twice more. 

5 th row — * 6 chain, 1 single crochet in 1st 
double crochet of group, 6 chain, 1 single crochet 
in 5th double, 6 chain, 1 single crochet in 9th 
double; repeat from * all around. 

For the next two rows work 6 chain, 1 single 
crochet in each previous group of chain. Finish 
the edge with a row of chain and picot. 

Work two sections like the one described and fasten 
together in the centre. Sew this upon the lawn 
facing and the tie is complete. 

If the tie shows any tendency to cap in the course 
of construction add an extra chain in the group of 
chain stitches every now and then. 
Wheel Tie with Rose and Straps with Shamrock (Fig- 
ure 252.) 

Wind padding cotton 6 times around the crochet 
needle. Over this ring work : 

1st row — 50 double crochet. 

2nd row — Chain 5, miss 2 double crochet,* in the 
third stitch, work 1 double crochet, 2 chain, miss 



NEEDLECRAFT 251 

2 double crochet repeat from * 24 times. Work 
a spider in the centre of the ring, with a needle 
and thread. 

Make 8 of these 
wheels for the tie. 
Join together with fill- 
ing stitch (3 chain and 
a single crochet). After 
working 3 chains and 
a single crochet around 
the edge of the tie, work 
1 single crochet in first 
space, 3 chain, 1 sin- 
gle crochet in second 
space, 3 chain * 1 dou- 
ble crochet, 7 chain in 
third space (catch 
back into second chain 
from needle to form 
a picot chain) repeat 
from * 4 times more, 
chain 3, 1 single cro- 
chet in next space, chain 3, 1 single crochet in sec- 
ond space. Continue in this manner all around tie. 
For rose in centre of tie. 

1st row — Chain 6, join in a ring. 




Fig, 252. Wheel tie with rose and 
straps with shamrocks 



252 NEEDLECRAFT 

2nd row — Chain 6*1 double crochet into ring, 
4 ch 1 double crochet, 4 chain repeat from * twice 
more and join. 

3rd row — Over first 4 chain work * 1 single 
crochet, 5 double crochet, 1 single crochet; repeat 
from * 5 times. 

4th row — Work a row of 7 chain loops fastening 
at back of first row of single crochet (this is what 
helps to form the rose petals and makes them stand 
one above the other). 

5th row — Over these loops work * 1 single 
crochet, 7 double crochet, 1 single crochet, repeat 
from * all around. 

6th row — A row of 9 chain loops. 

7th row — Into these loops work 1 single crochet, 
9 double crochet, 1 single crochet; this completes the 
rose. 

Let me mention here that roses can be substituted 
for the shamrocks worn on the ends of the straps. 
For straps. 

Work 27 single crochet over a padding cord, 
join in a ring. Work 9 single crochet over padding 
cord, 1 chain, 9 single crochet, 1 single crochet, over 
padding cord into the chain stitch. Continue 
working 9 single crochet, 1 chain, 9 single crochet 
over padding cotton and fastening each time in the 



NEEDLECRAFT 253 

chain stitch with a single crochet, One strap is 
6 inches long and the other is 7 inches long. 

For the edge of straps work 2 chain, 1 double 
crochet, in first single crochet of previous row, 2 
chain, 1 double crochet in 3rd stitch, 7 chain count 
back 5 chains and slip stitch (to form a picot) 1 
double crochet in 5th stitch, 2 chain, 1 double 
crochet in 7th stitch, 2 chain, 1 double crochet 
m 9th stitch. Continue on>oth sides of straps. 
For the shamrocks.^ 

Wind padding cotton over the end of crochet 
hook 6 times. Over this ring work 30 single 
crochet * Over 3 strands of padding cotton work 
11 single crochet. Twist padding cotton in a 
downward loop and work 1 single crochet over 
crossing of padding cotton, continue 15 single 
crochet over the loop, draw padding cotton to pull 
loop up close and then work 11 single crochet over 
padding cotton alone. Miss 2 single crochet on 
ring and work 2 single crochet over padding cotton 
into next 2 stitches of ring. 

Turn, leave padding cotton, 12 chain, 1 single 
crochet into top of crossing loop, 12 chain, 1 single 
crochet into ring just before beginning of arch. 
Turn, over 12 chain work 4 single crochet, 1 double 
crochet, 1 treble crochet. Work 1 treble crochet 



254 NEEDLECRAFT 

into single crocliet over crossing of loop. Continue 
over next 12 chain, 14 treble, 1 double and 4 single 
crochet. Work 4 single crochet over padding cotton 
into next 4 single crochet on ring, repeat from * twice 
more leaving out the 4 single crochet over padding 
cotton into the ring the last time. Turn, work a 
row of single crochet over padding cotton. Between 
petals take the needle out, insert in stitch half way 
between the petals, and pull loop through, this will 
give a better shape to the petals. Then continue 
with single crochet. . 

For stem work 3 single crochet over padding cotton 
into ring. Then 40 single crochet over padding 
cotton alone, turn and work 40 single crochet over 
padding cotton into the previous row of single crochet 
to the ring. To shape the stem to the right pull 
the padding cotton before working the second row 
of single crochet. 
Long Jabot (Figure 253). 

Over a padding cotton work 50 single crochet, 
turn, and work down other side, 41 single crochet 
over padding cotton into previous row of single 
crochet (leaving one-half of stem still to be worked). 

1st arm — Now twist the padding cotton under 
the stem, fasten with a slip stitch, over the loose 
padding cotton work 18 double crochet, turn and 



NEEDLECRAFT 255 

work over padding cotton into each double crochet, 
18 trebles, fasten with a single crochet in the 5th 
single crochet of centre 
stem. 

2nd arm — Turn work 
over padding cotton, 10 
double crochet into dou- 
ble crochet of previous 
row. Now work 8 dou- 
ble crochet over padding 
cotton alone, turn and 
work 18 treble crochet 
over padding cotton into 
the double crochet of pre- 
vious row. Fasten in 
10th stitch, this com- 
pletes the second arm. 

Now work 8 arms more 
in the same way, then 
finish the stem with 9 sin- 
gle crochet over padding 
cotton into the other single crochet of stem. 

For the centre work over 2 strand padding cotton 
6 double crochet and fasten into the single crochet 
which connects the arms to the stem, continue all 
around centre and fasten off. 




Fig. 253. Long jabot 



256 NEEDLECRAFT 

Work 36 chain, into these work 36 double crochet 
with 6 double on each end. Continue working until 
there are 4 rows of doubles. |f Connect the leaf to 
this with slip stitch, baste on paper and work 3 
rows of the filling stitch all around. 

1st row — For the edge, work 6 chain loops into 
every loop of previous row. 

2nd row — Over 6 chain loops work 7 single crochet. 

3rd row — 6 chain loops caught into every 4th 
single crochet. 

4th row — Into 6 chain loops work 4 single 
crochet, picot, 4 single crochet, then into 2nd or 
next loop work 4 single crochet, picot, 4 single 
crochet, into 3 loop work 4 single crochet. 5 chain 
turn and fasten in the 4th double crochet over 
2nd loop, turn and over chain work 4 double 
crochet, picot, 4 double crochet, then into the 3rd 
loop finish with the other 4 single crochet; repeat 
from * all around jabot. 
Baby Irish Lace, with Rose Leaf and Grapes (Figure 

254). 
For roses. 

Chain 12. Into chain work * 1 double crochet, 
3 chain repeat from * for 6 times more. Into each 
group of 3 chain work 1 single crochet, 6 double 
crochet, 1 single crochet making seven petals to a rose. 



NEEDLECRAFT 257 

For the leaves. 

Chain 8, join in a ring. Over this ring work 32 
single crochet without breaking the thread, chain 
8 and form another to the right and a Httle above 
the other ring, work 32 single crochet into this one 
jilso, again chain 8 and form a ring to the left of the 
first ring, fill this ring with 32 single crochet. 
For grapes. 

Chain 3, join. Fill chain with single crochet, 




Fig. 254. Baby Irish-lace edging 

continue] working around, widening as needed for 
3 rows. Decrease by missing a^stitch occasionally 
to shape grapes. Just before finishing stuff with 
cotton, make 3 grapes for each cluster and fasten 
into centre of leaf. Baste all motifs on muslin and 
fill with background stitch. For edge of scallop 
work groups of 6 chain caught down with a single 
crochet then * 4 single crochet into first space, 
2 single crochet into next space, 6 chain, turn, fasten 



258 NEEDLECRAFT 

into single crochet, turn, 3 single crochet over 
chain, picot, 5 single crochet, 2 single crochet into 
same space, 4 single crochet into next space, 6 chain, 
turn, and catch down beside first loop, turn, 4 single 
crochet over chain, 6 chain turn, catch down in 
centre of first loop, turn, 4 single crochet, picot, 4 
single crochet, into chain, 1 single crochet into next 
loop, picot, 3 single crochet, 4 single crochet into 
next space and repeat from * all around edge of lace. 
Dutch Collar (Figure 255). 

Begin the rose with a small thick ring made by 
winding the padding cotton ten times around the 
end of the crochet needle. Cover this ring with 
single crochet, cutting off the end of the padding 
cotton when the ring is three quarters covered. 
*Chain 6, catch down into the ring; repeat from * 
5 more times, dividing the spaces as evenly as possi- 
ble so the last chain is caught down beside the first 
one. 

Over the chain loop work * 1 single crochet 7 
double crochet, 1 single crochet, repeat from * 
all around. 

*Chain 7, catch down at back in the same stitch 
as that in which the chain loops of the preceding 
row was caught, repeat from * all around= 

Over chain loop * 1 single crochet, 9 double 



NEEDLECRAFT 259 

crochet, 1 double crochet. Repeat from * all 
around. 

*Chain 8 catch down in back same place as before. 
Repeat from * all around. 

*Over chain loops work repeat from * 1 single 
crochet, 1 1 doubles, 1 single crochet, this finishes the 
rose centre. " 

*Now begin the first row around the rose * 7 chain 
3 picot, (catch back into third stitch) chain 7, picot, 
3 chains, catch down in first petal in outer row, re- 
peat from *^12 times more, spacing these picot loops 
evenly all around, catching the last one into the 
centre of the first. 

*Next work one picot loop catching in into centre 
of loop of row below, then a loop of 6 chains, repeat 
from * caught into centre of next picot loop. 

Turn and over this loop work 9 single crochet, 
turn, work 9 double crochet over the single crochet 
3 chain, catch down into same stitch as the 6 chain 
loop was caught. Work 2 rows of picot loops, then 
repeat from * all around finishing the row in the 
corner of the first 9 double crochet ornament. 

9th row — Work a row of plain picot loops. 

10th row — Work a row of plain picot loops. 

11th row — Another row of plain picot loops. 

Five roses are required for the collar. 



260 NEEDLECRAFT 

For the wheels. 

Over a padding cotton ring, work single crochet. 




Fig. 255.^*'Air Irish-lace Dutch collar 

Over a single strand of the padding cotton crochet 
into every single crochet, a single crochet, work 4 



NEEDLECRAFT 261 

rows the same way only add a picot in every 4th 
single crochet in the last row. Now begin the first 
row around the wheel * chain 7, catch into the last 
single crochet of the wheel, chain 7, picot, chain 7, 
chain 3, skip 2 stitches of the wheel and catch down 
into the 3rd with a single crochet, repeat from * all 
around. 

Next work 1 picot loop, catching it into the centre 
of loop in row below, then a * loop of 6 chain caught 
into centre of next picot loop. Turn, and over 
this loop work 9 single crochet, turn and work 9 
double crochet over the single crochet, 3 chain stitch 
down into same stitch as the 6 chain loop was caught. 
Work 2 more picot loops, then repeat from * all 
around finishing the row in the centre of the first 
ornament. 

Work a row of plain picot loop. Another row 
of plain picot loops. Make four wheels for the 
collar. 

Sew the roses and wheels firmly on the cambric 
pattern (the size and style having been cut out of 
the cambric). 

Placing them so as to leave room for a single 
row of picot loops to be worked between to join them, 
crochet a chain of chain stitches and baste them 
upon the edge of the cambric pattern. Fill the 



262 NEEDLECRAFT 

work out to the desired shape with the picot loops, 
which should contain the same number of chain 
stitches as the loops in the roses and wheels, 3 chain, 
1 double crochet, 3 chain, work a row all around 
collar, then begin the border or edge. Work around 
the inner edge and fronts of collar 4 single crochet 
into each loop, then around the lower edge * 4 single 
crochet in the first space, 4 single crochet in the 
second space, 2 single crochet in the third space; 
chain 6 down at the beginning of second space. 
Over the loops thus formed make 3 single crochet, 
picot, 7 single crochet, 2 single crochet into same 
(third) space, 4 single crochet into next space. 
Turn, 6 chain catch down into next to the last loop, 
turn, 5 single crochet over the loop, chain 6, turn, 
and catch down into centre of first loop. Turn, 
5 single crochet, picot, 5 single crochet over this 
last loop, 2 single crochet into the next loop, 
picot, 3 single crochet, repeat from * all around edge. 
Take the collar up from the cambric and press 
upon the wrong side over a blanket or heavy flannel. 



XXI 

KNITTING, PLAIN AND PURLING, WASH RAGS, AND 
FANCY STITCHES FOR SHAWLS 



T 



HERE are certain terms used in knitting 
that are peculiar to the work. Until 
these terms are studied and practised, 
the instructions are as bad as trying to read a 
foreign language that you know nothing about. 

Knitting is usually done on two needles though 
there are times when more needles are used, for 
instance, in knitting stockings. 

Thread, silk or worsted can be used for the work. 
The latter is best for practising the first stitches 
or pieces. 

The first term we learn in knitting is "to cast 
on stitches " (Figure 256). Select a pair of medium- 
sized wooden needles. Your worsted should be 
wound into a ball. "Casting on" is the foundation 
for the work. Take a knitting needle in each hand 
between the thumb and first finger. Make a loop 
of the worsted over the left-hand needle near the 
end. Put your right-hand needle through this loop 

863 




Fig. 256. Castmg-on 



264 NEEDLECRAFT 

under the left needle. Holding the needles in this 
position, throw the worsted around the point of the 

right-hand needle 
and draw the right- 
hand needle through 
the first loop. There 
is now a loop on each 
needle. Slip the last 
loop made over the 
left needle. * Both 
needles are in the one 
loop, the left on top 
Again throw the worsted over the 
right-hand needle and draw the 
needle through with the loop on it. Slip this loop 
over the left-hand needle and repeat from *, till the 
number of stitches desired are cast on. 

The * indicates from which point the directions 
are to be repeated. 

The German method of knitting is to hold the 
work in the left hand and the worsted over the 
first finger, under the second and third and then 
over the little finger. 

To knit, the right-hand needle is in the first loop 
from the point of the other needle. * Throw the 
worsted over point of the right-hand needle and 



of the right, 
point of the 



NEEDLECRAFT 265 

draw it through the loop. Slip the first stitch off the 
left needle and insert the right needle into the next 
stitch and repeat 
from *, till all the 
stitches have been 
transferred to the 
right-hand needle 
(Figure 257). 

Remember t o 
hold the work in 
the left hand when 
starting to knit 
each needle or row. 




To purl (Figure 258). 




Fig. 258. Purling (P) 

over the worsted and draw the loop through. 



Fig. 257. Knitting (K) 

The work is held in the 
left hand. The 
worsted is brought 
in front of the 
work. The right- 
hand needle is in- 
serted through the 
stitch from right 
to left in front of 
the left needle. 
Pass the point of 
the right needle 
Slip 



266 NEEDLECRAFT 

off the stitch on the left needle as in knitting. Re- 
peat in this manner until all the stitches are trans- 
ferred. 

Sometimes it is necessary to get rid of some of 
the stitches. In that case the needle is slipped 
through two stitches instead of one and the new 
stitch formed in the usual way. There are two 
abbreviations for purling two together. They are 
p. 2 tog. or p-n. The latter means purl narrow. 

When knitting, two stitches can also be taken 
together. The abbreviation for this is n. K. 3 tog. 
means knit three stitches (sts) together as one stitch. 

To slip-stitch means to take a stitch from the 
left-hand to the right-hand needle without knit- 
ting it, and its abbreviation is si. 

To bind or cast off means to slip the stitches from 
the needle so that you have a chain edge. Slip 
the first stitch and knit the second. You now have 
two loops on the right-hand needle. * Put the point 
of the left needle (from left to right) through the 
first stitch on the other needle. Hold the worsted 
tight. Slip the right-hand needle through the loop 
formed as described above and then slip the loop 
from the left needle. There is only one loop on 
the right-hand needle. Knit the next stitch and 
repeat from *. 



NEEDLECRAFT 267 

Casting off must be done loosely or the work 
will have a puckered appearance. 

It may be that you desire to widen the row of 




Fig. 259. A little girl's first piece of knitting 

stitches. Both widening and decreasing is done at 
the end of needle or row. Knit as usual till there 
remains but one loop on the left-hand needle. Insert 
the left-hand needle through the loop at the base 
of the last stitch. Bring worsted around the point 



268 NEEDLECRAFT 

and make a stitch as usual. The last stitch is 
knitted in the usual way. 

After you have practised the stitches with wool, 
it is well to buy a ball of coarse knitting cotton and 
a pair of steel needles. The cotton makes ex- 
cellent wash cloths. Cast on 50 stitches then knit 
or purl the same amount of rows as stitches. To 
make a fancy cloth knit three rows then purl three 
rows until you have the fifty rows. 

The long straight shawls are the most popular 
at present. 

A little one for yourself that would be quite 
pretty is made in pop corn stitch (Figure 260). 
It requires five skeins of worsted and a pair of wooden 
needles. 

Cast on 59 stitches on your needle. 
' 1st row — K 1st, then knit two stitches together 
(2 K tog) the rest of the way. You now have 30 
stitches on your needle (Figure 260). 

2nd row — K first stitch, then knit the loop 
which is formed between the double stitches of 
the first row. Continue in this manner till you 
have again on the needle the same number you cast 
on — 59. 

3rd row — K plain all the way across. 

4th row — P plain allthe way across. 




Photograph by Mary G. Huntsman 

Her First Knitted Sliawl 



NEEDLECRAFT 269 

5th row — K 2 together all the way across to the 
last stitch, then k that by itself. 

6th row — Same as second row. 

7th row — K plain. 

8th row — P plain. 

Continue in this manner till you make a scarf 
about one yard long. 




Fig. 260. The popcorn stitch 

The popcorn pattern affords good practice for 
the different stitches explained before. 

If a longer shawl is desired continue in the same 
manner. To make it broader it will be necessary 
to cast on more stitches at the beginning. 
;^ A shawl may be finished in many ways.; Some- 
times a little crochet edge is worked around it, or 



270 , NEEDLECRAFT 

a chain stitch fringe can be made. The plain fringe 
is the one most used however. This is made by 
cutting the wool about ten inches long. Take four 
lengths and slip them through and knot them into 
the border edge at each end of the shawl. This 
makes a fringe about five inches deep. 




Fig. 261. The basket stitch 

The basket stitch makes a thick shawl (Figure 
261.) 

To make a wide shawl in this stitch 10 skeins of 
Germantown wool will be required. 

Cast on 120 stitches. 

1st row — Knit plain. 

2nd row — * K 3, p 7, k 3, p 7, repeat from * 
to end of needle. 

3rd row — * K 7, p 3, k 7, p 3, repeat from * 
to end of needle. 



NEEDLECRAFT 271 

4th row — * K 3, p 7, k 3, p 7 repeat from * 
to end of needle. 

5 th row — P the entire row. 

6th row — * P 7, k 3, p 7, k 3, repeat from * 
to end of needle. 

7th row — * P 3, k 7, p 3, k 7 repeat from * to end 
of needle. 

8th row — Like 6th row. 

9th row — P entire row. 

Nine rows form the pattern, repeat from second 
row until you have a shawl two yards long. 



XXII 

DOLL'S CAPE, HOOD, LEGGINGS AND JACKETS 

doll's cape. 

Material — 3 Fold Saxony, 2 Steel Knitting Needles No. 10, 
1 Steel Crochet Hook No. 6. 

COMMENCE with 1 stitch. Knit plain, in- 
creasing 1 stitch beginning of each needle 
until there are 30 stitches on needle. In- 
crease 1, knit 12 stitches, bind off 6 stitches, knit 
12 stitches. Increase 1 stitch beginning of needle, 
knit to end of row; turn, knit 1 row plain. Repeat 
until there are 15 stitches on needle. Now increase 
1 stitch at the neck and decrease 1 stitch at end of 
row, 1 row plain. Repeat 3 times more. Knit 
plain without increasing at front and 2 together at 
end of needle, until 1 stitch is left on needle, fasten 
off. Finish the right side same as left. Crochet 
a row of holes for ribbon, 1 chain, 1 double all around. 
With blue yarn crochet 1 row, 3 chain, 1 single. 
Doll's Jacket (Figure 263). 

Material — 3 Fold Saxony, 2 Steel Knitting Needles No. 16, 
3 Steel Knitting Needles No. 13, 1 Steel Crochet Hook No. 6. 

272 



NEEDLECRAFT 



273 




Kg. 262. Doll's knitted cape 

' Cast on steel needles No. 13, 64 stitclies, 1 plain 
1 purl for 26 rows, Knit 16 stitches; turn. Take 
another needle, knit the 16 stitches for 5 rows with 
No. 16 needles knit plain for yoke, decreasing 1 stitch 




Fig. 263. Doll's knitted jacket 



274 NEEDLECRAFT 

at the neck until there are 12 stitches on needle, 
knit plain until there are 7 ridges, bind off. From 
the 48 stitches left on needle, knit 32 stitches for 14 
rows; bind off. Finish left front same as right. 

Sleeves — Cast on steel needles No. 16, 26 stitches. 
Knit plain for 6 ridges. With steel needles No. 13 
knit 1 plain, 1 purl for 20 rows. Bind off 3 stitches 
beginning of each needle until 8 stitches are left on 
needle; bind off. Sew up seam and shoulder seams. 
Crochet a row of holes around neck for ribbon, 1 
chain, 1 double. With blue yarn crochet one row, 
3 chain, 1 single all around. 
DolVs Cap (Figure 264). 

Material — 2 Fold Saxony, 2 Steel Knitting Needles No. 16, 
2 Steel Knitting Needles No. 13, 1 Steel Crochet Hook No. 6. 

With blue yarn cast on 
No. 16 steel needles 45 
stitches. Knit plain for 6 
ridges. With white yarn 
and No. 13 needles, 1 plain, 
1 purl for 17 rows. 

Crown — Knit 29 stitches, 
knit 2 together; turn, knit 
14 stitches, knit 2 together. 
Repeat until all side stitches have been worked up and 
the crown is complete. Then pick up stitches on both 




Fig. 264. Doll's cap 



NEEDLECRAFT 275 

ends, first on one side; turn, knit them plain, also 
the crown stitches, then pick up the stitches on that 
side and knit them. Make a row of holes for ribbon, 
yarn over needle twice, then knit 2 together to end 
of row. 1 row plain, knitting only 1 of the stitches 
cast on. With blue yarn crochet 1 row, 3 chain, 1 
single. 

Doll's Leggings (Figure ^65). 

Material — SjFold Saxony, 2 Steel Knitting Needles No. 13, 
1 Steel Crochet Hook No. 6. 

Cast on 32 stitches. 1 plain, 1 purl for 21 rows. 
Decrease beginning and end of needle. 
Knit for five rows. Decrease continu- 
ously 1 stitch beginning and end of 
needle every 6th row, until there are 
22 stitches on needle. Knit for 15 
rows. Bind off 6 stitches, knit 10, 
take another thread, bind off the re- 
maining stitches. Knit the 10 stitches 
for 4 rows. Decrease beginning and 
end of each needle, until there are 4 
stitches on needle. Bind off and sew 
up seam. With blue yarn crochet 
3 chain, 1 single around top of legging. 
Infant's Knitted Bootees (Figure 266) . 

Material — 2 Skeins White Wool, 1 Skein Pink or Blue, 1 
Pair Knitting Needles No. 16, 



m 



Fig. 265. 
A doll's legging 



276 




Kg. 266. Infant's knitted bootee 



NEEDLECRAFT 

1st row — Cast on 53 
stitches in coloured wool. 

2nd row — Knit plain 
to the end of row. 

3rd row — Slip 1, make 
1, knit 25, make 1, knit 1, 
make 1, knit 25, make 1, 
knit 1. 

4th row — Knit plain 
to the end of row. 

5th row — Slip 1, make 
1, knit 27, make 1, knit 1, 
make 1, [knit 1, knit 27, 
make 1, knit 1. 

6th row — Knit plain 
to end of row. 

7th row — Slip 4, make 
1, knit 29, make 1, knit 1, 
make 1, knit 29, make 1, 

knit 1. 

8th row — Knit plain 
to the end of row. 

9th row — Slip 1, make 
1, knit 31, make 1, knit 1, 
make 1, knit 31, make 1, 
knit 1. 




A Red Cross Knitter 



Photog^raph by Brown Bros. 



NEEDLECRAFT 277 

10th row — Knit plain to end of row. 

11th row — Slip 1, knit 33, make 1, knit 1, make 1, 
knit 34. 

12th row — Knit plain to end of row. 

13th row — Slip 1, knit 34, make 1, knit 1, make 1, 
knit 35. 

14th row — Knit plain to end of row. 

15th row — Slip 1, knit 35, make 1, knit 1, make 1, 
knit 36. 

16th row — Knit plain to end of row. 

You must now have 75 stitches on your needle. 
Knit now 8 plain rows then knit 43 stitches, now 
knit 2 together. Turn your needles and continue 
this until you have 25 stitches on each side of needle. 
You must now tie on the white wool then knit 12 
plain, then knit 2 together as above, you are begin- 
ning now to make the part that forms the little sock. 
Knit 2 together 7 times, turn your needle, knit 1, 
pick up the stitch that you will see between the two 
stitches that you have knitted, two together, 
next row knit plain. Next row purl 1, then you have 
four rows complete. Commence 2 together again 
7 times continue this until you have 5 pattern rows. 

Always remember to take 2 stitches together after 
you have knitted the 12 stitches. There should 
be 14 stitches on each side needle. Tie on the 



278 NEEDLECRAFT 

coloured wool again and knit plain to end. Knit 
1 row plain then make 1, knit 2 together to the end 
of row. Then make 1, pick up the stitch already 
explained. Tie on white wool, knit 1 row plain. 
Begin the pattern again by knitting 2 together. 
Remember you must always begin a row on the 
right side of the bootee. Do 7 rows of the pattern, 
then 12 rows ribbed. Rib is to knit 2 plain rows 
and purl 2 rows. After knitting 12 rows cast off on 
the right side and sew the bootee up neatly at the 
back and run some ribbon in to finish it off. 
A warm hood for the baby (Figure 267). » 

This hood requires an ounce and a half of Shetland 
wool and one pair of fine bone needles No. 7. Jj 

Cast on 21 stitches, knit 6 rows or three ridges 
plain. 

Second row — Knit one * wool over needle twice, 
knit 2 together, repeat from *. 

Knit 3 more rows plain. Cast on 21 stitches at 
one end and knit back and cast on 20 more at the 
other. Knit on these 62 stitches that are on the 
needle for 30 more rows. Now start a new pattern 
by knitting 1 for the edge * wool over, slip the next 
stitch on the right-hand needle, knit the next two, 
pass the slipped stitches over these two. Note the 
two loops remain on the right-hand needle and the 



NEEDLECRAFT 279 

wool cast over. There knit from * to the end of 
row, knitting last stitch plain, purl back. Repeat 
these 2 rows 20 times. Cast oS the 20 and 21 




Fig. 267. A knitted hood 

stitches at the end. Knit on the original 21 stitches 
for 30 rows. 

Next row — Knit 1 * wool across the needle 
twice, knit 2 together, repeat from *. 

Knit 6 rows. 

Cast off. 

Your knitting is now finished and somewhat 



280 NEEDLECRAFT 

in the shape of across. Join theX'sto the X's on 
the wrong side. Sew right up to the corner. 

Join the dashes to the dashes, the O's to the O's, the 
diamonds to the diamonds inhke manner (Figure 268). 

You will have a piece of knitting that looks like 
a box cover. Turn it so the wrong side is in the 
right position. Fold the backs over the other so 
that the 2 rows of holes correspond. Sew along the 

bottom edge. 



X 



Fig. 268. Diagram of hood 



Turn back a 
little corner from 
the plain knitting 
and sew it down. 

Run a ribbon 
through the holes 
and tie in a bow 
in front. 
Knitted Vest for 

Baby. 



Materials required, 10 oz. of Shetland Wool, a pair of Bone 
Knitting Needles No. 12 and 2 yds. of Ribbon, 

Cast on 140 stitches. 
1st row — Knit plain. 

2nd row — Knit 2 purl 2 all the way across. 
Continue knitting 2 and 2 ribs for 5 inches. P( 
To form the armholes work backward and for- 



NEEDLECRAFT 281 

ward on the 1st 40 stitches for two and three quarter 
inches. Cast off all but 12 stitches for the shoulder 
strap. Workl2 rows on these 12 stitches and cast off. 

For back — Continue from where you divide it 
for the armhole for 60 stitches leaving 40 for the 
second front. 

Work two and a quarter inches on the 60 stitches. 
Cast off. Make second front the same as first. 
Sew up on shoulders. -^^ 

A pretty little crochet edge around the neck and 
armhole will complete this comfortable little vest. 
7 A simple crochet edge is made by working one 
double crochet, * 4 chain, 1 double crochet in first 
chain, miss 2 stitches, 1 double crochet, repeat from * 
sew the two small pieces of ribbon that have been 
cut in half to the vest. Tie in a bow. The bows 
hold the little garment together. 
Pine Pattern Lace. 

Cast on 28 stitches and knit across plain. 

1st row — Slip 1, knit 2 together, make 2, knit 2 
together, knit 10, knit 2 together, make 2, knit 2 
together, knit 1, make 2, knit 2 together, make 4 
(thread four times round needle) knit 2 together, 
knit 2 together, make 2, knit 2 together. 

2nd row — Knit plain, but work twice (knit 1 
and purl 1) in each of these make 2 loops. In the 



282 NEEDLECRAFT 

2nd row work 6 times (knit 1, purl 1, knit 1, purl 1, 
knit 1, purl 1,) all in the 4 made stitches. 

3rd row — Slip 1, knit 2 together, * make 2, knit 2 
together, knit 2, knit 2 together, make 2, knit 2 
together; repeat from * once, knit 2, make 2, decrease 
2 (by working slip 1, knit 2 together, draw the 
slipped stitch over), knit 5, decrease 2, make 2, 
knit 2 together. 

4 th row — The same as second row. 

5th row — Slip 1, * knit 2 together, make 2, knit 2 
together, knit 1, repeat from * three times, knit 2, 
make 2, decrease 2, knit 3, decrease 2, make 2, 
knit 2 together. j. 

6th row — The same as second row. 

7th row — Slip 1, knit 2 together, make 2, knit 2 
together, knit 2, knit 2 together, make 2, decrease 2, 
make 2, knit 2 together, knit 2, knit 2 together, 
make 2, knit 2 together, knit 4, make 2, knit 2 to- 
gether, knit 2 together, draw the first two together; 
stitch over the second thus decreasing again, de- 
crease 2, make 2, knit 2 together. 

8th row — The same as second row. 

9th row — Slip 1, knit 2 together, make 2, knit 2 
together, knit 4, knit 2 together, knit 5, knit 2 to- 
gether, make 2, knit 2 together, knit 6, make 2, 
decrease 2, make 2, knit 2 together. 



NEEDLECRAFT 283 

10th row — Knit 2 together, drop the second loop 
of the "make 2," knit 1, draw the first stitch on the 
right-hand needle over the knitted one, thus decreas- 
ing again; knit 1, purl 1, knit 8, purl 1, knit 13, purl 
1, knit 2. Repeat from first row. 



XXIII 

EMBROIDERY SUGaESTIONS FOR BOARDING 
SCHOOL GIRL 

A GIRL who has to make a home of her 
boarding school should try and make her 
room and little personal articles as at- 
tractive as possible. Her room is her citadel where 
only her bosom friends and cronies meet. She likes 
to feel when she enters her room that it is a place 
where everything is hers and every object in sight 
means something to her. 

A girl might not like to embroider, yet there are 
hundreds of things that can be done without any 
needlework decoration, such as stencilling, cut 
leather or simple appliqu6. It always amuses me 
to hear a girl say, "I don't like to embroider." 
I always feel like asking her, if we are acquainted, 
if she knows how to embroider. You will find that 
in nine cases out of ten she does not. Em- 
broidery is like anything else, you have got to know 
it to like it. It may be you prefer one branch to 
others. Some branches of this work may be tedious 

284 



NEEDLECRAFT 285 

to you but when you stop and think what simple 
things are classed under embroidery you will find 
that you have a wide field from which to select. 

It is not my object to go into details in regard 
to stitchery in this chapter but rather to give you 
some helpful suggestions in regard to knowing what 
to make and what colours to use. The stitches 
to be used are fully described in the previous 
chapters. 3 j 

The first thing to consider is, are you going to have 
a bedstead or a couch in your room? Make it the 
latter unless you have a broad window seat that you 
can heap up with pillows. No room at a boarding 
school or college is complete without a half a dozen 
pretty pillows. When the chairs give out you can 
use the cushions, Japanese fashion, on the floor. 
Some girls like to carry their whole room out in 
cretonne, which is very pretty and dainty if you can 
afford it. Cretonne covers last about a year and 
then they get faded and dusty, while a linen back- 
ground embroidered will last for many years. It may 
need laundering but it will stand any amount of that. 
If the embroidery fades a little that also is no draw- 
back as it takes the effect of newness from the room. 
A room ought to look as if people lived in it and 
enjoyed it and not as if it were an exhibition room 



286 NEEDLECRAFT 

in some department store. Don't think I am trying 
to encourage untidiness but let the things be used 
and enjoyed. 

When I was about your age for several weeks 
I spent my spare time embroidering a centre piece 
for my auntie's dining room table taking care to 
get just the right colours that would look well with 
her every day china. It nearly broke my heart 
when it was finished to have her use it only for state 
occasions. If my cousins do not use it any more 
than auntie did it will last for hundreds of years, 
or be thrown into the rag bag by the next genera- 
tions if they don't like it. Enjoy all the pretty 
things that you possess if they are appropriate for 
the use you intend them for. 

Have you ever heard the story of the little dirty 
boy of the slums who was given a new white tie 
by his teacher? He had first to wash his hands before 
he touched it and then he washed himself to wear it 
and asked his mother for a clean shirt so that every- 
thing would go with the tie? Do you know that if 
you have one beautiful thing in your room of 
which you are very proud you too will see that all 
the things around it set off its beauty? 

For the girl who has a window seat in a room and 
wants to keep her room dainty and bright there is 



NEEDLECRAFT 287 

nothing as pretty as the lingerie pillow. It may be 
made of heavy white linen or lawn as you desire 
and can be oblong, round or square. The cushion is 
covered in any colour that you prefer and the white 
top embroidered with large eyelets, Roman cut 
work, Hardanger or drawn work so that the colour 
will appear through the openings. Some of the 
handsomest imported pillows have motifs of real 
Filet, Irish Crochet or Cluny lace. These motifs 
are very expensive and not really necessary. The 
back and front of the linen cover are scalloped on 
the edges and half an inch above this scalloping a 
row of large eyelets is worked at intervals. The 
back and front are laced together with ribbons the 
same shade as the coloured covering. For a pink 
and blue room the cushion can be covered with 
pink and the lingerie slip laced with blue. For a 
square pillow plan the design on a square and ar- 
range one in each corner and one in the direct centre. 

These slips will require frequent laundering. 

The lithographed pillow is a thing to be avoided 
by a girl of refined taste. You would not hang 
lithograph posters in your bedroom so why feel that 
it is all right to buy a lithograph pillow? 

The chief point to remember in getting little 
accessories for your room is to keep the colouring 



288 NEEDLECRAPT 

as harmonious as possible. Avoid getting the 
popular things of to-day which are apt to be an 
eyesore to you to-morrow. 

Do not decide quickly to carry out your room in 
school colours, there will probably be a dozen of the 
girls who will do this very thing and you will be 
tired of it before your course is through. A frater- 
nity pillow is to be expected as there are dozens of 
ways that it may be treated and look quite different 
from the other girls' pillows. 

The general way in which a school or fraternity 
pillow is made is to cut out of felt the letters, figures 
and any design that is to be placed on it. The 
background may be broadcloth, ladies' cloth or 
felt. Use one of the school or fraternity colours 
for the applique and the other for the background. 

One of the handsomest fraternity pillows I ever 
saw, was one belonging to a Hamilton College 
man. Hamilton's colours are buff and bright deep 
blue. The fraternity's colours were black and 
gold. A handsome piece of Hamilton blue broad- 
cloth was selected for the background. The frater- 
nity pin was reproduced in colour in fine filo silk. 
The gold silk was a perfect match to the gold in the 
pin. Even the background of the pin, which was 
black enamel, was represented by very fine Ken- 



NEEDLECRAFT 289 

sington stitches. The rope-like edge of the pin was 
reproduced on the pillow by little rope-like sections 
heavily padded and worked in gold silk. On the 
back of the pillow were his initial and his class year 
below. No beruffled ribbons or gaudy cord de- 
tracted from its richness. It was a square cushion 
and its only finish was a large button in each corner 
where the end was gathered and tucked in to give 
a round effect. 

The school girl of to-day is learning to eliminate 
the unnecessary trumpery things that cheapen the 
room and serve as dust gathefrers. Outside of 
the pillow, bed or table covers and an occasional 
bag for fancy work, laundry or gloves there is no 
ornate display of handwork. Even the walls are 
left bare with the exception of a framed print or a 
few family photographs. 

Try if possible and see if you can get a plain paper 
for your wall. More than one really charming room 
is spoiled by having an atrocious paper on it. It 
is really impossible to try to be artistic with an 
ugly wall paper. 

Since stencilling has become so popular, it is not 
an uncommon thing to have the entire room sten- 
cilled. 

Suppose you had planned to have your room in 



290 NEEDLECRAFT 

lilac, green and light gray. White can be substi- 
tuted for the gray but it soils more readily than the 
latter. The floor should be polished and a couple 
of small rugs or one larger one be used on the floor. 
The lilac shade should predominate in the rug. 
The covers should be of the gray or white with a 
stencilled design in green and lilac. A pretty way 
to treat the pillow is to get inexpensive lilac material 
of a coarse texture. Cut a square about fourteen 
or fifteen inches. Cut four strips of white or gray 
five inches wide by twenty-five inches long. These 
strips should be finer than the lilac or of a different 
weave. Baste one strip on each side of the lilac 
square. Mitre the strips at the corners. A design 
is then stencilled on the four strips in lilac and 
green. The backing of the pillow should be in 
plain lilac. 

If preferred a striped lilac and white piece of 
material can be used for the centre and back. 

For the girl who is fond of initials or monograms 
I would suggest that the cover be hemstitched and 
a wreath selected in different sizes appropriate to 
the article on which it is to be used. These wreaths 
can be carried out in colour or the background may 
be coloured and the wreaths white. Inside of the 
wreath work your monogram or initial. If you 



NEEDLECRAFT 291 

desire a Dutch room, carry out this scheme in Delft 
blue material and have a dark set of Mission 
furniture. 

Nile green linen with wreaths of conventionalized 
rosebuds or daisies, worked in shades of pink, or 
white and yellow, suggests a French room, with a 
brass bedstead. As I have stated in the chapter 
on initials, the stem stitch is pretty for working 
single lines of a design that is carried outin satin- 
stitch. 

Stem stitch is too slow a method however to em- 
broider school linens, and I would suggest using a 
substitute that has the effect and yet does not 
require the time. A row of outlining is made, and 
then turn the work back in the same manner, this 
time instead of working through the material, catch 
the places where the two successive stitches of the 
first row overlap (Figure 269.) 

Another wrinkle you might be glad to hear of 
and possibly want to put in practice is how to clean 
a daintily embroidered piece without washing it, 
such as a pincushion or pillow top. School is not 
like home where you can be sure a piece sent to 
the laundry will have proper attention. Another 
drawback is that all extras have to be well paid 
for. If the piece is thickly covered with white 



292 NEEDLECRAFT 

talcum powder and allowed to stand without dis- 
turbing it for forty-eight hours, the embroidery 
will emerge almost as clean as if it had been 
laundered. 

Now then there are the curtains for your room. 
You may be fortunate enough to have a room with 
dainty dotted swiss or dimity curtains that will 
go very nicely with the things you are planning and 




Pig. 269. A substitute for stem stitch 

then again you may be afflicted with a pair of cheap 
imitation lace curtains. If you can possibly afford 
it change them as soon as possible. Personally I 
would rather have no curtains than the wrong ones. 
Dimity, dotted swiss, scrim, plain net or grass 
linen are materials that are inexpensive as well as 
artistic. Of course you can make them as fancy as 
you wish. Any of the above mentioned materials 
can be stencilled. Rick-rack braid, which is a wavy 
braid, can be used to edge the net curtains or a 
Connemara lace design is also appropriate. 



NEEDLECRAFT 293 

A narrow crochet edge can be used on the edge 
of the scrim curtains or a narrow border of drawn 
work can be used. - - 

Shadow work is effective on dimity or dotted 
Swiss curtains. Another pretty stitch very similar 
to the shadow stitch is the skeleton stitch. In- 
stead of the work being on the wrong side it all 
appears on the right. Work a row of very fine 
running stitches on the right side. Fagot stitch 
from side to side catching the thread into the run- 
ning stitches. The work is done from the centre 
of the flower to the tip of the petal. Do not end 
your thread but weave over and under the fagotting 
stitch to the end of the petal, leaf or space on which 
you are working. 

The curtains may be sash lengths or may be the 
full length of the window but do not make them 
longer than to reach the sill. 



